^^^ 


/^ 


IRELAND 

UNDER 

ENGLISH  RULE 


OR 


A  PLEA  FOR  THE  PLAINTIFF 


BY 

THOMAS  ADDIS  EMMET,  M.D.,  LLD. 


(■SEAL  FOR    THE.  UNITtO  l/> 


VOLUME  I. 


G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS 

NEW  YORK  AND  LONDON 

Ube  1Rnicl?erbocl?er  press 

1903 


44398 


Copyright,  1903 

BY 

THOS.  ADDIS  EMMET 


Published,  September,  1903 


"Cbe  "Rnlcfterbocliet  press,  mew  Borft 


To 
THE  SONS  AND  DAUGHTERS  OF  IRELAND 

SCATTERED  OVER  THE  EARTH  IN  QUEST  OF  A  HOME 

DENIED  THEM  IN  THEIR  NATIVE  LAND 

THIS  WORK  IS  DEDICATED 


"  That  if  this  lande  were  put  once  in  order  as  afore- 
sayd,  it  would  be  none  other  but  a  very  paradise,  de- 
licious of  all  pleasuance  to  respect  and  regard  of  any 
other  lande  in  this  worlde  ;  in  as  much  as  there  never 
was  straunger  nor  alien  person,  greate  or  small,  that 
would  avoide  there  from  by  his  will,  notwithstanding  the 
said  misorder,  if  he  might  the  meanes  to  dwell  therein, 
his  honesty  saved ;  much  more  would  be  his  desire  if 
the  lande  were  once  put  in  order." 

Letter  from  State  Papers  of  Henry  VIII. 

{Author  unknown!) 


'  God  made  the  land  ;  and  all  His  works  are  good  : 
Man  made  the  laws  ;  and  all  they  breath'd  was  blood. 
Unhallow'd  annals  of  six  hundred  years, 
A  code  of  blood,  a  history  of  tears." 


PREFACE 

The  writer,  as  President  of  the  Irish  National  Federation 
of  America,  was  called  upon  to  deliver  a  public  address  at 
the  Cooper  Union,  in  the  city  of  New  York,  on  the  evening 
of  February  i,  1897.  This  was  intended  to  form  one  of  a 
series  of  educational  lectures  to  be  given  to  the  members  of 
the  different  branches  of  the  Federation  in  the  city  of  New 
York.  The  subject  assigned  to  the  writer  was  :  "England's 
Destruction  of  Ireland's  Manufactures,  Commerce  and 
Population." 

Much  of  the  material  used  in  this  lecture,  together  with 
that  presented  in  the  paper  on  IrelancT s  Past  and  Present 
and  recently  published  in  DonaJme's  Magazine,  Boston, 
Mass.,  was  utilized  by  the  author,  together  with  a  greater 
mass  of  new  material,  and  all  was  embodied  in  the  Indict- 
ment of  i8g8,  to  show  "Why  Ireland  has  never  Prospered 
under  English  Rule." 

When  the  work  had  been  prepared  for  the  press,  early  in 
1898,  the  writer  declined  to  entertain  the  proposal  that  it 
should  be  printed  by  a  publisher  with  Irish  sympathies,  be- 
cause the  work  would  then  have  passed  only  into  the  hands 
of  those  already  familiar  with  the  subject.  His  earnest  de- 
sire was  to  have  it  reach  the  American  public  and  possibly, 
by  the  same  means,  the  English  people.  Thus  would  the 
truth  be  disseminated  for  educational  purposes  and  would 
to  some  extent  reach  those  who  are  indifferent  owing  to 
profound  ignorance  of  Irish  affairs. 

The  manuscript  was  submitted  to  several  prominent 
American  publishers  and,  while  the  writer  was  courteously 


vi  Preface 

treated,  it  was  returned,  with  a  single  exception,  without 
comment  beyond  the  statement  that  the  subject  was  not  a 
desirable  one.  The  exceptional  comment  was  to  the  effect 
that  "were  the  statements  made  in  the  work  as  authentic 
as  those  of  the  Bible,  no  publisher,  with  any  thought  to  his 
future,  would  dare  print  such  an  array  against  England, 
when  at  that  time  the  disposition  of  the  people  throughout 
the  country  was  so  friendly  towards  her."  The  Author 
accepted  the  statement  as  a  compliment,  since  it  seemed  to 
indicate  that  his  humble  efforts  had  been  successful. 

Notwithstanding  his  disappointment  in  the  failure  to  have 
the  work  published  in  1898,  when  it  would  have  been  most 
apt,  the  delay  was  not  without  advantage.  More  time  has 
thus  been  furnished  in  a  busy  life  to  elaborate  and  recon- 
struct the  original  manuscript  to  its  present  form,  which 
must  even  now,  however,  still  contain  many  defects  and 
omissions  where  so  much  had  to  be  condensed.  In  fact,  my 
investigations  have  necessarily  been  extended  over  a  greater 
period  of  time,  the  material  has  been  more  systematically 
arranged,  and  the  result  is  essentially  a  new  treatment  of 
the  subject. 

Consequently,  The  Indictment  of  i8g8,  which  had  dealt 
rather  in  generalities,  had  outgrown  its  title  and  Ireland 
under  English  Rule  was  more  appropriate. 

While  the  scope  of  this  Work  covers  in  outline  fully  seven 
centuries  and  a  half  of  Irish  history  and  extends  to  the 
present  time,  it  has  not  been  my  purpose  to  give  a  continu- 
ous historical  narrative  of  events  nor  to  detail  the  services 
of  individuals,  a  task  which  would  have  proved  a  failure  if 
attempted  within  so  limited  a  space. 

The  historical  sketch  does  not  extend  beyond  the  Union 
with  England  at  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
since  this  event  was  the  culmination  of  Ireland's  wrongs, 
but  the  commercial  or  financial  results  with  their  conse- 
quences are  treated  of  nearly  to  the  present  time. 

The  so-called  Rebellion  of  1803  and  the  different  disturb- 
ances at  later  periods  within  the  Nineteenth  century  natur- 


Preface  vii 

ally  followed  the  "Union  "  and  any  attempt  to  trace  events 
in  detail  from  a  political  standpoint  would  necessarily  have 
involved  much  repetition  without  aiding  the  particular  ob- 
ject of  this  work.  The  troubles  of  1803  have  been  treated 
of  by  the  writer  somewhat  in  detail  elsewhere,'  and  the 
material  published,  with  the  addition  of  some  new  historical 
facts  which  were  in  close  connection  with  the  events  of  the 
last  century.  As  the  history  of  the  past  fifty  years  has 
been  often  given  in  numerous  personal  narratives  by  those 
who  were  participants,  it  is  within  the  reach  of  all  who  wish 
to  study  the  subject. 

The  object  of  the  writer  has  been  to  trace  certain  causes 
and  effects  and  to  show,  what  is  self-evident  in  the  abstract, 
that  no  result  can  be  produced  without  an  adequate  cause. 
As  the  chief  proposition  it  will  be  shown  that  Ireland  has 
only  prospered  under  English  rule  for  a  brief  interval — when 
at  least  Irishmen  managed  Irish  affairs,  although  these  were 
conducted  by  a  minority,  with  the  added  disadvantage  that 
fully  eight  tenths  of  the  population  of  Ireland  at  that  time 
were  disfranchised  on  a  religious  test.  The  logical  deduc- 
tion then  presents  itself  that  Ireland  has  never  prospered 
because  of  misrule  on  the  part  of  the  English  Government. 

This  will  be  proved  to  have  been  the  case,  as  well  as  that 
Irish  affairs  were  conducted  by  England  for  centuries  in 
accordance  with  a  settled  and  fixed  purpose  that  Ireland 
should  not  prosper.  As  part  of  the  indictment  against 
England,  it  will  be  shown  that  only  within  a  recent  period 
has  the  effort  been  abandoned,  whenever  an  opportunity 
presented,  to  exterminate  by  the  sword  the  Catholic  portion 
of  the  population  ;  since  that  time,  the  same  policy  has  been 
indirectly  but  as  successfully  followed  in  depopulating  the 
country  by  famine  and  forced  emigration.*     Only  the  more 

'  The  Emmet  Family,  zuith  some  Incidents  Relating  to  Irish  History,  etc. 
Privately  printed,  New  York,  1898. 

^  Mathew  Carey  quotes  from  Maurice  and  Berghetta  :  ' '  When  we  see  a 
suffering  people,  with  depressed  minds  and  indolent  habits,  we  do  not  (as  we 
ought  to  do)  ascribe  their  poverty  to  the  men  who  govern  them.  But  no  one 
who  sees  a  mangy  flock  of  sheep,  ever  doubts  that  it  is  the  fault  of  the  farmer 


viii  Preface 

prominent  instances  will  be  cited  in  proof,  but  even  these 
form  a  pandemonium  of  horrors  more  brutal  in  detail  than 
could  be  gleaned  from  the  deeds  of  any  other  civilized 
nation.  The  Irish  were  by  no  means  free  from  a  charge  of 
cruelty  in  their  efforts  at  retaliation  but,  if  any  justification 
can  be  offered,  when  the  truth  becomes  known  they  will  be 
judged  by  future  generations  as  blameless,  in  view  of  the 
grievous  and  countless  provocations  from  which  they  suf- 
fered during  so  many  years. 

With  the  English  people  as  individuals  the  writer  has  no 
issue,  as  the  greater  portion  of  a  long  life  has  been  passed 
in  close  and  pleasant  social  relations  with  them.  Nor  can 
he  lay  claim  himself  to  any  better  stock  than  that  of  the 
mixed  English  race,  which  came  down  to  him  in  an  un- 
broken line  on  his  mother's  side  from  the  days  of  King 
Stephen.  From  his  father  he  has  no  Irish  blood  direct  but 
is  descended  from  a  family  originally  settled  in  the  central 
portion  of  England,  of  which  members  served  in  the  armies 
of  Charles  and  Cromwell  and  afterwards  intermarried  with 
the  descendants  of  the  earlier  English  settlers  in  the  west  of 
Ireland,  where  in  time  they  became  also  "Hibernis  ipsis 
Hiberniores." 

The  indictment  which  the  writer  will  attempt  to  draw 
will  be  against  that  unique  political  organization  known 
as  the  British  Government  —  a  system  well  fitted  for  the 
oppression  of  the  whole  human  race,  with  the  exception 
of  the  English  people  themselves ;  with  a  settled  policy, 
since  the  Norman  conquest,  which  has  remained  unchanged 
in  the  quest  of  gain  and  new  territory. 

Yet  England  possesses  a  government  which  is  almost 
perfect  in  its  administration  for  the  freedom,  prosperity  and 
happiness  of  her  own  people ;  and  her  promptness  in  giving, 
under  all  circumstances,  the  fullest  protection  abroad  to  the 
humblest  of  her  race  is  most  praiseworthy.  But  she  is  gen- 
erally mistrusted  by  other  people  for  her  consummate  selfish- 

to  whom  it  belongs." — Vindicice  Hibernica,  etc.,  third  edition,  Philadelphia 
and  London,  1839,  p.  423. 


Preface 


IX 


ness  and  brutality  in  dealing  with  a  weaker  Power ;  and  she 
is  honestly  despised  by  the  many  in  consequence  of  her 
treatment  of  Ireland. 

A  full  statement  of  England's  policy  in  Ireland  will  be 
given ;  this  policy  will  be  traced  from  an  early  period  to  the 
so-called  Irish  Rebellion  in  1798,  when  the  consummation 
was  reached  in  the  great  crime  committed  against  Ireland, 
in  forcing,  by  bribery  and  corruption,  "The  Union,"  to 
which  the  Irish  people  were  not  a  party.  TJie  Indictment  of 
i8g8,  as  originally  prepared,  consists  in  showing  the  condi- 
tion of  Ireland,  one  century  later. 

Where  a  special  authority  has  been  cited,  the  selection 
has  been  made  whenever  it  was  possible  from  some  writer 
with  English  sympathies  and  preference  given  to  the  con- 
temporary observer.  As  the  writer  could  have  no  personal 
knowledge  of  the  subject,  the  work  must  necessarily  be  a 
compilation;  therefore  all  quotations  given  are  in  full,  to 
express  the  author's  views  in  his  own  words  rather  than  by 
a  freely  worded  paraphrase,  as  is  usually  done.  By  following 
this  plan  the  reader  is  enabled  to  judge  for  himself,  which 
could  not  otherwise  be  readily  done  as  many  of  the  works 
which  have  been  quoted  are  now  out  of  print  and  but  few 
of  them  are  likely  to  be  found  outside  of  a  special  collection 
in  some  private  library. 

Through  the  influence  of  English-created  public  opinion 
many  thoughtless  people  regard  "the  low  Irish  "  as  being 
to  a  great  extent  responsible  for  the  chronic  state  of  want 
and  misery  from  which  they  have  so  long  suffered. 

To  remove  this  spirit  of  prejudice,  religious  or  otherwise, 
against  the  Irish  people,  and  which  so  generally  exists  as  an 
English  inheritance,  material  will  be  furnished  to  show  that 
the  Irish  are  a  law-abiding  race,  more  temperate  as  a  people 
than  either  the  English  or  Scotch;  that  their  morals  will 
compare  favorably  with  those  of  any  other  race ;  that  they 
are  not  from  choice  a  lazy  nor  a  shiftless  people,  that  even 
under  adverse  circumstances  which  would  have  discouraged 
others  they  have  prospered  wherever  it  was  possible  to  do 


X  Preface 

so ;  and  that  the  individual's  religious  belief  exercised  no 
special  influence,  as  the  Catholic  was  as  prosperous  in  Ulster 
or  elsewhere,  when  able  to  avail  himself  of  the  same  advan- 
tages possessed  by  his  Protestant  brother. 

The  one  great  purpose  the  writer  has  had  in  view  through- 
out was  to  do  justice  to  the  Irish  people  as  a  whole.  He 
would  gladly  have  laid  aside  entirely  all  religious  appella- 
tions, if  it  had  been  possible  to  do  so,  but  unfortunately  the 
prejudice  of  centuries,  excited  by  the  acts  of  the  English 
Government,  has  created  the  impression  with  many  that 
only  the  "Papist  "  is  the  real  Irishman,  and  unless  a  Presby- 
terian or  a  "Scotch-Irishman  "  be  shown  as  the  chief  actor, 
no  circumstance  of  Irish  history  was  worthy  of  thought. 
The  fact  is  indeed  a  difficult  one  to  realize  that  not  a  few 
persons  regard  the  "Protestant  Irishman,"  the  "Presby- 
terian Irishman  "  and  the  "Catholic  Irishman  "  as  so  many 
distinct  species  of  the  human  race. 

There  remains  in  Ireland,  outside  of  the  Islands  and  on 
the  West  Coast,  but  little  of  the  old  Celtic  race,  for  the  Irish 
people  have  now  become  as  much  of  an  aggregation  as  the 
population  of  the  United  States  is  an  agglutination  of  other 
races. 

Yet  there  is  something  in  the  Irish  climate  and  surround- 
ings which,  even  within  a  generation,  exercises  a  powerful 
influence  in  bringing  the  descendants  of  all  foreigners  to  a 
type  possessing  much  in  common  and  with  characteristics 
unlike  any  other  people.  The  writer  in  his  researches  found 
much  to  admire  among  all  classes  and  he  has  been  able  to 
do  so  without  reference  to  the  religious  belief  of  the  indi- 
vidual. With  a  more  intimate  knowledge  his  love  and  ad- 
miration became  the  greater  for  the  whole  Irish  people,  who 
constitute  a  wonderful  and  remarkable  race. 

The  only  stumbling-block  met  with  has  been  the  Orange- 
man, who  has  allowed  neither  climate.  Christian  charity  nor 
any  other  influence  to  change  his  nature.  But  even  the 
Orangeman  could  be  made  a  passably  good  Irishman  if  he 
could  be  brought  to  realize  that  the  "Protestant  Ascend- 


Preface  xi 

ancy,"  as  he  understands  it,  can  never,  through  the  mercy 
of  God,  exist  again  in  Ireland;  that  it  has  even  ceased  to  be 
an  issue  in  the  country  since  the  disestablishment  of  the 
English  State  Church  in  Ireland ;  and  that  public  opinion, 
of  the  majority  of  all  in  every  Christian  country,  is  to-day 
opposed  to  any  religious  ascendancy,  as  he  would  have  it. 
Let  him  realize  that  he  is  not  entitled  longer  to  special 
rights  and  that  from  his  standpoint  he  cannot  raise  an  issue 
on  premises  which  have  been  dead  and  untenable  for  over 
one  hundred  years.  The  Orangeman  of  to-day  is  generally 
a  man  of  education,  position  and  wealth  and,  if  he  could  for- 
get his  imaginary  grievances  and  direct  his  time,  talents  and 
means  to  the  gaining  of  peace  and  prosperity  for  his  country, 
by  which  all  would  be  equally  benefited,  even  his  past  record 
might  in  time  be  forgotten  by  a  people  who  are  naturally 
forgiving. 

The  reader  seeking  to  obtain  the  truth  is  not  to  judge 
hastily  that  the  Work  is  written  in  a  partisan  spirit  but  is 
asked  to  lay  aside  all  prejudice  and  finally  base  a  judgment 
on  the  evidence  presented,  which  is  by  no  means  exhaustive. 
No  praise  will  be  found  for  England's  course  in  Ireland, 
from  the  fact  that  in  truth  nothing  can  be  stated  to  her 
credit.  No  instance  can  be  cited  showing  that  England's 
purpose  had  ever  been  an  unselfish  one  in  seeking  by  any 
measure  to  benefit  the  Irish  people  as  a  whole ;  and  the  recital 
of  her  failures  has  been  as  cheerless  as  the  Lamentations  of 
Jeremiah. 

Most  difficult  and  dreary  has  been  my  task,  undertaken  in 
the  desire  to  state  truthfully  the  condition  of  affairs  in  Ire- 
land. The  voidless  waste  of  the  past  could  be  accepted 
by  the  investigator  with  more  hopefulness  for  the  future, 
if  an  indication  could  be  found  showing  that  England  had 
gained  in  Ireland  any  practical  knowledge  by  experience  or 
could  appreciate  the  efficacy  of  conciliation. 

English  statesmen  seem  to  lose  all  astuteness,  while  in 
charge  of  the  government,  by  their  seeming  inability  to 
recognize   the    inevitable    in    time  to  adapt  themselves   to 


xii  Preface 

circumstances.  In  the  government  of  Ireland  they  seem 
stupidly  conservative  and  opposed  to  all  change,  unless 
England  alone  is  to  be  benefited. 

The  settled  policy  for  governing  the  country  is  to  keep 
the  people  in  a  constant  state  of  exasperation.  The  spirit 
of  conciliation  is  unknown  to  the  English  official  in  Ireland. 
The  excessive  number  of  troops  and  constabulary  force  in 
the  country  are  chiefly  employed  to  create  disorder,  to  fur- 
nish testimony  when  necessary  by  perjury  and  for  packing 
the  jury  box.  Justice  in  Ireland  is  unknown  wherever 
political  bias  and  religious  bigotry  on  the  part  of  the  official 
can  be  associated  with  its  administration.  Those  who  hold 
office  at  the  pleasure  of  the  Government  have  no  more 
efficient  means  for  exhibiting  their  loyalty.  Nothing  is 
more  certain  than  the  occurrence  of  a  forced  outbreak  in  Ire- 
land whenever  the  Government  wishes  to  divert  the  atten- 
tion of  the  English  people  or  to  provide  for  the  maintenance 
of  troops  returning  after  the  close  of  some  war;  and  the 
necessity  for  their  presence  in  Ireland  is  created  that  the 
Irish  people  may  be  taxed  for  their  support.  Every  other 
nation  acts  from  self-interest  and  from  motives  of  policy  but 
England  in  her  government  of  Ireland  has  but  one  resource 
— that  of  coercion. 


After  years  of  delay  in  finding  a  publisher,  and  at  the  time 
this  Work  was  about  to  be  printed,  England  suddenly 
changed  her  policy  of  coercion,  which  it  was  foreseen  she 
would  inflict  upon  the  Irish  people  after  the  war  with  the 
Boers,  and  introduced  into  Parliament  a  land  bill  which  it 
is  claimed  will  restore  prosperity  to  the  country  and  will 
unite  the  Irish  people  as  a  contented  and  loyal  portion  of 
the  British  Empire. 

Under  these  circumstances,  the  question  was  presented  as 
to  the  existing  need  or  propriety  for  publishing  this  Work. 
With  an  intimate  knowledge  of  the  relations  which  have  ex- 
isted for  centuries  between  England  and  Ireland,  the  writer 


Preface 


XIU 


could  not  believe  that  the  time  for  the  millennium  had  been 
reached,  as  a  consequence  of  the  only  liberal  effort  England 
has  ever  made  to  advance  the  interest  of  the  whole  Irish  peo- 
ple. The  necessity  for  her  own  preservation  which  forced 
England  to  advocate  the  measure  will  not  now  be  considered. 
The  uncertainty  as  to  what  extent  the  bill  may  be  amended 
in  Parliament  so  as  to  materially  lessen  its  benefit  to  the 
Irish  people  prevents  any  judgment,  for  England  has  never 
yet  undertaken  to  grant  any  apparent  concession  to  Ireland 
without  interpolating  somewhere  a  saving  clause  which  in 
application  lessened  the  full  benefit  expected.  Moreover, 
England  has  never  hesitated,  in  dealing  with  a  weaker 
Power,  to  violate  any  pledge  when  it  was  to  her  advantage 
and  she  had  recuperated  sufficiently  to  enforce  her  will.  The 
knowledge  of  this  fact  is  not  calculated  to  excite  a  belief  that 
the  hatred  and  selfish  prejudice  which  has  existed  so  long 
can  be  so  suddenly  obliterated.  Thanks  should  be  given  to 
God  for  any  benefit  to  Ireland  and,  in  the  absence  of  enthu- 
siasm as  to  England's  sincerity,  the  Irish  people  must  accept 
little  by  little  until  England  has  been  forced  to  make  resti- 
tution in  full.  Even  were  Ireland  on  the  eve  of  the  greatest 
degree  of  prosperity  due  to  England's  fullest  appreciation 
of  her  past  treatment,  and  were  the  latter  actuated  by  the 
sincerest  desire  to  make  the  fullest  atonement,  the  history 
of  Ireland's  suffering  should  not  be  suppressed. 

In  consequence  of  England's  penal  laws  and  her  policy 
in  the  management  of  the  national  schools,  the  Irish  people 
and  their  descendants  in  this  country  are  most  ignorant 
of  the  extent,  beyond  all  other  people,  to  which  they  have 
cause  to  be  proud  of  the  past  history  of  their  country. 
With  the  effort  now  being  made  throughout  the  world, 
wherever  the  Irish  people  have  been  scattered,  to  rekindle 
the  national  spirit  by  reviving  a  knowledge  of  the  Irish  as  a 
spoken  language,  and  with  the  study  of  Ireland's  grand  his- 
tory and  traditions  which  must  follow,  the  necessity  be- 
comes all  the  greater  that  even  the  most  humble  effort  to 
teach  should  be  accepted,  for  its  worth  as  a  contribution 


xiv  Preface 

towards  advancing  the  reviving  interest  in  Irish  matters. 
A  movement  which  must  accomplish  so  much  towards  edu- 
cating the  people  of  Irish  blood  to  respect  themselves  the 
more  from  the  fact  of  their  Irish  origin,  and  a  knowledge  of 
the  truth  as  to  what  does  justly  exist  to  the  credit  of  the 
Irish  race,  will  eventually  command  the  respect  of  all  nations. 
The  diary  of  Thos.  Addis  Emmet,  to  be  found  in  the 
Appendix,  is  an  important  historical  contribution  towards 
elucidating  a  period  of  Irish  history  which  has  been  obscure. 
It  was  written  after  Mr.  Emmet's  release  from  prison,  when 
he  resided  in  Paris  as  the  secret  agent  of  the  republican 
movement  in  Ireland,  which  was  sustained  by  some  of  the 
leaders  who  had  escaped  identification  with  the  outbreak  in 
1798.  This  diary  was  first  printed  in  1898  in  a  Work  '  issued 
in  so  limited  an  edition  that  it  may  be  truthfully  stated  it  is 
now  placed  within  reach  of  the  public  for  the  first  time. 

'  The  Einmei  Family,  etc. 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

V 


Preface    

Bibliography xix 

Introduction i 

Chapter  I i6 

The  Irish  language,  early  civilization  and  traditions. 

Chapter  II 45 

The  alleged  Papal  Bull  to  Henry  II. 

Chapter  III 62 

The  Clan  system — Ireland  never  accepted  English  au- 
thority— Beginning  of  land  confiscation  on  the  plea  of 
rebellion — Great  suffering — Attempt  to  exterminate 
the  Catholics — The  "  Confederation  of  Kilkenny." 

Chapter  IV 79 

General  confiscation  planned  before  the  war — Claren- 
don's statement  and  others  as  to  the  origin  of  the 
civil  war — English  method  of  acquiring  title  to  the 
lands — Suffering  of  the  people  never  equalled — Ap- 
peal of  the  Catholics  to  Charles  I.  too  late. 

Chapter  V 

Cromwell  in  Ireland — Catholics  nearly  exterminated 
and  hunted  as  wild  beasts — Men  of  all  ranks  sent  to 
America  and  sold  as  slaves — The  remainder  given  the 
choice  of  going  to  "  Hell  or  Connaught  " — From  these 
people  of  gentle  birth  and  refinement  the  Irish  peas- 
antry of  to-day  are  descended — No  other  race  presents 
such  an  anomaly. 


91 


xvi  Contents 

PAGB 

Chapter  VI 107 

Wilful  destruction  of  human  life  in  Ireland — Condi- 
tion of  the  people  under  Charles  and  James — Treaty 
of  Limerick  with  William  of  Orange — Freedom  of 
worship  pledged  to  the  Catholics — William  violates 
his  promises — Anne  and  the  Georges — Catholics  in 
Ireland  were  never  intolerant — Their  liberality  to- 
wards the  Quakers,  Methodists  and  Jews. 

Chapter  VII 117 

The  "  Volunteer  Movement  "  in  Ulster  —  England 
grants  concessions  to  the  Irish  people  after  the  Amer- 
ican Revolution  and  acknowledges  Ireland  to  be  a 
distinct  kingdom  —  Effort  of  the  Presbyterians  of 
Ulster  to  gain  religious  freedom  for  the  Catholics 
— Who  were  the  "Scotch-Irish"? — Industries  of  the 
North  of  Ireland  destroyed  by  William  —  Emigration 
of  operators  to  France — They  established  the  different 
industries  now  existing  in  that  country — Beginning  of 
the  organization  of  "  The  United  Irishmen." 

Chapter  VIII 135 

"  Protestant  Ascendancy  "  and  Penal  laws — What  the 
Catholics  suffered — Continued  efforts  by  the  Presby- 
terians and  a  portion  of  the  Protestants  to  have  these 
laws  abolished — Course  of  the  Government,  which 
secretly  excited  bigotry  and  strife  among  the  people — 
A  far-reaching  and  blighting  policy — Pitt's  methods 
for  forcing  the  so-called  rebellion  of  1798. 

Chapter  IX 155 

State  papers  relating  to  Ireland  not  reliable — The 
leaders  in  1798 — Their  plans  and  object — Suffering 
of  the  people  designedly  increased  by  the  Government 
— The  Press  Gang  and  methods  for  obtaining  men  for 
the  navy — Orangemen  and  "  Defenders  " — Action  of 
the  Orangemen  secretly  protected  by  the  Government. 


Contents  xvii 

PAGE 

Chapter  X 172 

English  methods  —  The  "  battalion  of  testimony  " 
— False  swearing  and  packing  the  jury  box — Char- 
acter of  some  of  the  judges —  Discrimination  against 
the  Catholics — The  Orangemen — Their  ancestors 
fled  at  the  battle  of  the  Boyne — Their  usefulness  to 
the  Government  in  creating  disorder  —  Orangemen 
generally  considered  to-day  only  worthy  of  contempt. 

Chapter  XI 188 

Government  spies  and  informers  active  among  the 
leaders  of  1798  in  rousing  the  people  to  resistance — 
The  Government  responsible  for  loss  of  life,  property 
and  excessive  suffering  of  the  Irish  people  —  Irish 
leaders  chiefly  Protestants — Catholics  take  but  little 
part  except  in  Wexford — Secret  agents  of  the  Gov- 
ernment promise  Catholics  freedom  of  worship  for  re- 
maining neutral — Government  disregards  this  promise 
and  violates  the  terms  of  treaty  with  the  leaders. 

Chapter  XII    .        .        .        ,        .        .        .        .211 

Ireland  received  no  benefit  from  the  "  Union  " — An 
essay  by  Dr.  McNeven — England  has  always  violated 
her  treaty  obligations  when  to  her  advantage  —  She 
ignores  her  treaty  with  the  United  States  after  the 
Revolution  until  forced  to  observe  its  terms  —  Ex- 
tracts from  writings  of  Miss  Emmet. 

Chapter  XIII 224 

Bill  for  the  "  Union  "  proposed  —  Effort  to  get  a  ma- 
jority in  Parliament — People  opposed,  petitions  sup- 
pressed —  Martial  law  declared  —  People  unable  to 
meet  for  consultation  —  Bill  carried  by  bribery  and 
with  Irish  money,  the  people  not  being  a  party  thereto. 

Chapter  XIV 235 

History  of  the  "  Union  " — The  men  who  carried  out 
Pitt's  instructions  and  their  methods. 


xviii  Contents 

PAGE 

Chapter  XV 247 

Legality  of  the  "  Union  "  questioned — England  never 
complied  strictly  with  a  single  provision  of  the  Bill — 
What  was  promised — Terms  omitted — Ireland  tricked. 

Chapter  XVI 256 

History  of  some  State  papers  connected  with  British 
rule  in  Ireland  and  some  alleged  facts  in  relation  to 
the  uprising  in  1803. 

Chapter  XVII 272 

The  government  of  Ireland  for  a  century — Number  of 
Coercion  Acts — Parliament  indifferent  to  Ireland's  wel- 
fare— Local  Government  Act  for  Ireland  excludes  the 
rights  which  the  English  and  Scotch  councils  possess. 

Chapter  XVIII 286 

The  true  condition  of  Ulster — Its  morals  and  pros- 
perity. 

Chapter  XIX 296 

Famines  of  Ireland — Consequent  suffering — Results 
due  to  misgovernment  and  indifference  on  the  part 
of  the  English  authorities — Unnecessary  loss  of  life 
and  emigration. 

Chapter  XX 314 

English  Government  responsible  for  loss  of  life  in 
Ireland — Extermination  of  the  Catholics  considered 
— Catholics  have  suffered  even  to  the  present  day 
from  unjust  discrimination. 


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IRELAND  UNDER  ENGLISH  RULE 


INTRODUCTION 

During  the  past  four  centuries  Ireland  has  been  in  a 
chronic  state  of  unrest  and,  previous  to  the  late  movement 
to  gain  by  constitutional  measures  Home  Rule  for  the 
country,  scarcely  ten  consecutive  years  passed  without  a 
protest  on  the  part  of  the  people  in  the  guise  of  some  out- 
break or  disturbance. 

In  the  study  of  Irish  history,  since  the  first  invasion  during 
the  reign  of  Henry  the  Second  to  the  present  time,  the  single 
bare  fact  presents  itself  throughout — that  Ireland  has  never 
prospered  under  English  rule.  It  is  made  equally  apparent 
that  England,  from  the  beginning  and  under  all  circum- 
stances, has  been  consistent  in  her  determined  purpose  that 
Ireland  should  not  prosper  and  that  the  labor  of  the  people 
and  the  resources  of  the  country  should  be  utilized  only  so 
far  as  both  could  be  used  to  the  profit  of  the  English  people 
themselves. 

It  is  essential  that  the  reader  should  understand  the  rela- 
tions which  have  existed  between  Ireland  and  England,  so 
that  a  knowledge  of  the  facts  may  furnish  a  vindication  for 
the  political  course  which  countless  numbers  of  Irishmen 
have  pursued  in  their  efforts  to  free  their  native  country. 

Hundreds  of  thousands  of  the  best  men  of  Ireland  have, 
in  successive  generations,  either  been  driven  into  exile, 
fallen  on  the  battle-field,  suffered  imprisonment  until  both 


2  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

body  and  mind  had  become  shattered  or  sacrificed  their 
lives  "after  due  process  of  law" — and  all  this  for  the  prin- 
ciple of  self-government.  In  the  struggle  to  gain  control  of 
the  land  and  its  form  of  government  no  sacrifice  was  con- 
sidered too  great,  for  Ireland  is  the  only  country  in  the 
world  where  the  people  have  been  deprived  of  both  these 
rights. 

We  may  assume  that  the  average  reader  is  ignorant  of 
Irish  history,  as  English  writers  in  relation  to  Irish  affairs 
have  systematically  misstated  and  perverted  facts,  even  to 
the  most  insignificant  circumstance. 

The  Rev.  Geoffrey  Keating,  D.D.,  a  learned  Catholic 
divine,  wrote  in  the  sixteenth  century  a  standard  history  of 
Ireland  in  his  native  language ;  the  work  was  translated  from 
the  Irish  in  1732  and  since  that  time  there  have  been  differ- 
ent editions  printed  in  English.  Dr.  Keating  in  his  Preface 
states : 

"  Having  undertaken  to  deduce  the  history  of  Ireland  from  the 
most  distant  ages,  I  think  myself  obliged  to  remove  beforehand, 
those  false  and  injurious  representations  which  have  been  pub- 
lished concerning  the  ancient  Irish,  who  for  above  three  thousand 
years  have  inhabited  this  kingdom,  as  well  as  what  relates  to  the 
old  English  who  have  settled  here  ever  since  the  reign  of  King 
Henry  the  second. 

"  The  English  historians,  who  have  since  that  time  wrote  about 
the  affairs  of  Ireland,  have  industriously  sought  occasion  to  lessen 
the  reputation  of  both  .  .  .  Who  when  they  write  of  Ireland, 
seem  to  imitate  the  beetle,  which,  when  enlivened  by  the  influence 
of  the  summer  heats,  flies  abroad,  and  passes  over  the  delightful 
fields,  neglectful  of  the  sweet  blossoms  of  fragrant  flowers  that 
are  in  its  way,  till  at  last,  directed  by  its  sordid  inclination,  it 
settles  upon  some  nauseous  excrement.  Thus  the  above  men- 
tioned authors  proceed  when  they  write  of  this  kingdom ;  what 
was  worthy  or  commendable  in  the  Irish  nobility  and  gentry, 
they  pass  over.  They  take  no  notice  of  their  piety,  learning  and 
courage,  or  their  charitable  disposition  to  build  churches  and  re- 
ligious houses,  or  of  the  great  privileges  and  endowments  they 


Introduction  3 

conferred  and  settled  upon  them :  they  omit  to  speak  of  the  pro- 
tection and  encouragement  they  give  to  their  histographers  and 
to  other  men  of  learning,  to  whom  their  liberality  was  so  abound- 
ing, that  they  not  only  relieved  the  indigency  of  those  who  made 
their  applications  to  them,  but  made  public  invitations  to  find  an 
opportunity  to  bestow  gratifications  upon  persons  of  merit  and 
desert.  They  forget  to  mention  their  virtues  and  commendable 
actions;  but,  in  their  accounts  of  this  kingdom,  these  authors 
dwell  upon  the  manners  of  the  lower  and  baser  sort  of  people, 
relate  idle  and  fabulous  stories,  invented  on  purpose  to  amuse 
the  vulgar  and  ignorant,  and  pass  over  all  that  might  be  said  with 
justice,  to  the  honour  of  the  nobility  and  gentry  of  the  nation. 

"  Never  was  any  nation  under  Heaven  so  traduced  by  malice 
and  ignorance  as  the  ancient  Irish. 

"  The  English  writers  particularly,  have  never  failed  to  exert 
their  malice  against  the  Irish,  and  represent  them  as  a  base  and 
servile  people. 

"  This  introduction  would  be  too  tedious  and  prolix,  should  I 
particularly  reflect  upon  all  the  malicious  and  ignorant  falsehoods 
related  by  English  writers,  in  what  they  call  their  histories  of  Ire- 
land; for  most  of  them  are  so  monstrous  and  incredible,  that  they 
carry  with  them  their  own  confutation. 

"  I  have  observed  that  every  modern  historian,  who  has  under- 
taken to  write  of  Ireland,  commends  the  country  but  despises  the 
people ;  which  so  far  raised  my  resentment  and  indignation  that  I 
set  out  in  this  untrodden  path  and  resolved  to  vindicate  so  brave 
a  people  from  such  scandalous  abuses ;  by  searching  into  original 
records  and  from  thence  compiling  a  true  and  impartial  history. 
It  grieves  me  to  see  a  nation  hunted  down  by  ignorance  and 
malice,  and  recorded  as  the  scum  and  refuse  of  mankind,  when 
upon  strict  inquiry  they  have  as  good  a  figure  and  have  signalised 
themselves  in  as  commendable  a  manner  to  posterity  as  any 
people  in  Europe."  * 

This  charge  against  English  writers  was  written  during 
Queen  Elizabeth's  reign. 

In  1804  Plowden,  the  English  historian,  wrote': 

'  Keating' s  General  History  of  Ireland,  translated  from  the  Original  Irish, 
etc.,  by  Dermod  O'Connor,  Esq.,  Dublin,  1857. 

^  An  Historical  View  of  the  State  of  Ireland,   etc.,  by   Francis  Plowden, 


4  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

"  The  ill-judged  policy  of  misrepresenting  the  Irish  history,  for 
partial  or  corrupt  purposes,  began  almost  as  early  as  our  connec- 
tion with  that  country ;  and,  it  is  to  be  lamented,  that  it  has  been 
kept  up  almost  uniformly  to  the  present  day. ' ' 

Another  writer  states  * : 

"  The  people  of  England  are  a  good  honest,  sincere  and  just 
people;  at  the  same  time  they  have  been,  and  are,  highly  preju- 
diced against  our  country  by  their  rulers,  who  have  ever  been, 
and  are,  the  very  reverse  of  the  people.  The  world,  moreover, 
ever  has  been  and  is  in  the  like  state  of  prejudice  and  dark- 
ness, whereby  it  happens  that  the  true  history  of  no  country  in 
the  civilized — no  that  term  will  not  apply,  we  have  been  bar- 
barized by  our  calumniators; — no  country  under  regular  govern- 
ment— no,  no,  that  epithet  is  still  more  faulty,  unless  regularity 
in  misgoverning  be  the  term  adopted ; — well,  of  no  country  long 
known  to  the  learned,  whose  ports  have  been  long  time  visited,  is 
so  imperfectly  known  as  that  of  Ireland,  in  whose  recorded  annals 
little  else  is  to  be  found  than  falsehood,  vulgar  errors  and  a  cata- 
logue of  crimes,  at  the  recital  of  which  the  nature  of  man  shud- 
ders and  recoils ; — crimes  which  have  been  for  the  most  part  the 
work  of  those  very  rulers  of  England,  whose  hired  writers  have 
constantly  laid  them  at  the  door  of  the  Irish  people,  against  whom 
they  have  been  committed. 

"  I  believe  Ireland  is  the  only  country  under  Heaven  of  which 
men  presume  to  write  without  a  particle  of  knowledge  of  its  lan- 
guage, laws,  manners,  customs,  or  annals;  recommending  their 
works  solely  by  their  eulogies  of  England  and  sovereign  contempt 

Esq.,  Philadelphia,  1805,  vol.  i.,  p.  5,  note.  In  Grattati's  Life,  by  his  son, 
vol.  v.,  p.  235,  is  given  a  letter  written  by  Lord  Fitzwilliam  to  Plowden  the 
historian,  dated  Sept.  26,  1S03,  containing  the  following  criticism  :  "This 
work  has  brought  before  the  public  this  truth,  little  known  and  little  thought 
of,  that  the  Irish  nation  has  consisted  of  two  distinct  and  separate  people,  the 
English  and  the  native  Irish,  the  conqueror  and  the  conquered  ;  and  this  dis- 
tinction has  been  systematically  and  industriously  kept  up,  not  by  the  animosity 
of  the  conquered,  but  by  the  policy  of  the  conqueror  J" 

'^  Letters  to  His  Majesty,  King  George  the  Fourth,  by  Captain  Rock,  etc., 
London,  1828,  p.  5. 


Introduction  5 

for,   and   illiberal,   unqualified    abuse   of  the    Irish  people  and 
nation."  ^ 

It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  the  circulation  of  works  in 
Ireland  written  in  Irish  interests  has  been  suppressed  by 
persecution  of  the  author,  or  seizure,  and  generally  such 
works  were  burned  by  the  hangman.  Moreover,  the  English 
Government  has  never  been  backward  in  having  a  suitable 
version  published  from  time  to  time  for  the  outside  world, 
and  has  generally  managed  by  some  bribe,  of  title  or  posi- 
tion, to  have  it  done  as  though  on  the  authority  of  some 
private  individual. 

The  House  of  Commons  did  at  an  early  date  render  it  in- 
advisable to  circulate  too  truthful  an  account  of  Irish  affairs 
and  the  impression  thus  produced  has  certainly  been  a  last- 
ing one.  It  has  on  several  occasions  ordered  the  printer  to 
be  imprisoned  without  trial,  the  printed  account  to  be  burned 
by  the  public  hangman  and  that  the  Stationer's  Company 
should  gather  together  the  copies  which  had  been  distributed 
and  have  them  all  burned. 

No  writer  has  attempted  to  trace  the  persistent  efforts 
made  by  the  English  Government  in  the  past  to  keep  her 
own  people  in  ignorance  of  Irish  affairs.  That  the  Irish 
people  should  be  kept  in  ignorance  as  far  as  possible  and 
that  the  children  in  the  national  schools  should  not  be 
taught  the  simplest  fact  in  relation  to  the  history  of  their  own 
country  may  be  good  policy  from  the  English  standpoint. 
But  to  falsify  Irish  history  and  suppress  the  truth  to  the 
extent  done  through  the  influence  of  the  English  Govern- 
ment can  never  be  justified. 

Different  writers  refer  to  this  subject  but  a  single  quota- 
tion will  be  sufficient.      Mr.  Fox  states '': 

"  The    eminent    author   of    Commercial  Restraints^    who    was 

■  Rock,  note,  p.  56. 

'^  Why  Ireland  Wants  Home  Rule,  etc.,  by  J.  A.  Fox,  London,  sixth  edi- 
tion (1887  ?),  p.  ri6.  A  work  containing  more  practical  information  on  Irish 
affairs  for  the  number  of  pages  (186)  than  any  other.  A  number  of  publishers 
in  this  country  have  been  urged  to  reprint  it  but  unsuccessfully. 


6  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

principal  Secretary  of  State  and  Provost  of  Trinity  College  in 
Ireland,  1779;  in  a  footnote  we  find  the  following:  '  This  work 
by  Mr.  Hely  Hutchinson,  like  kindred  efforts  of  Swift  and  Moly- 
neux,  was  suppressed,  and  burnt  by  the  common  hangman  at  the 
instance  of  the  English  Government;  just  as  Irish  newspapers 
are,  even  to  this  day,  suppressed  when  they  become  too  trouble- 
some to  Dublin  Castle,  which  it  is  apprehended  must  fall  like  the 
walls  of  Jericho  before  "  The  great  shout  of  the  whole  people." 
It  is  indeed  a  melancholy  reflection  that  the  work  of  Molyneux 
was  burnt  by  order  of  William  Third's  Whig  Parliament,  for  dar- 
ing to  extend  to  unfortunate  Ireland  those  principles  on  which 
the  English  Revolution  itself  was  professedly  founded.  As  late  as 
1807,  when  Peter  Plymley's  letter  advocating  further  relaxation 
of  the  laws  affecting  Catholics  first  appeared  in  print,  the  Gov- 
ernment of  that  day  took  great  pains  to  find  out  the  author;  all 
they  could  find  was,  that  the  letters  were  brought  to  Mr.  Budd, 
the  publisher  (in  secret  probably),  by  the  Earl  of  Lauderdale. 
"  Some  how,  or  another,  it  came  to  be  conjectured  that  I  was  the 
author,"  writes  Sydney  Smith,  thirty  years  afterwards;  "  I  have 
always  denied  it.  &c." — meaning  he  found  it  highly  expedient  to 
disclaim  the  authorship  at  the  time  least  he  should  be  subjected 
to  persecution  in  his  own  person.'  "     {Works,  Preface,  p.  vii.)  ' 

The  English  Press  has  shown  this  unjust  spirit  even  down 
to  our  own  time,  by  systematically  misrepresenting  every 
trivial  illegal  occurrence  in  Ireland  so  that  what  in  England 
or  elsewhere  would  be  considered  as  unworthy  of  mention, 
if  it  be  an  occurrence  in  Ireland,  is  exaggerated  to  the  utmost 
importance.  The  object  is  to  hide  from  the  world  the  con- 
tinual provocation  to  disorder  existing  in  the  English  method 
of  governing  Ireland  and  also  to  spread  the  impression 
abroad  that  the  Irish  people  are  a  lawless  race;  while  in 
truth  they  are  to-day  and  have  been,  as  a  whole,  from  the 
earliest  record  a  law-abiding  people. 

Sir  John  Davis,  the  poet  and  Attorney-General  for  Ireland 

'  In  a  subsequent  note  we  will  show  how  Francis  Plowden,  having  been  em- 
ployed by  Pitt,  the  younger,  to  write  a  history  of  Ireland,  was  persecuted,  driven 
into  exile,  and  finally  died  from  want  in  Paris,  in  consequence  of  his  honesty  and 
failure  to  render  a  satisfactory  version  in  support  of  the  English  Government. 


Introduction  7 

in  the  time  of  James  the  First,  noted  for  his  zeal  as  a  prose- 
cuting ofificer  and  for  his  hatred  of  the  Irish  race,  placed  on 
record,  probably  in  some  moment  of  repentance  for  his  pre- 
vious injustice,  the  following': 

"  I  dare  affirm,  that  for  the  space  of  five  Years  last  past,  there 
have  not  been  found  so  many  Malefactors,  worthy  of  Death,  in 
all  the  six  Circuits  of  this  realm  (Ireland),  which  is  now  divided 
into  Thirty-two  Shires  at  large,  as  in  one  Circuit  of  six  Shires; 
namely  the  Western  Circuit  of  England.  For  the  truth  is  that  in 
time  of  Peace  the  Irish  are  more  fearful  to  oifend  the  law  than 
the  English,  or  any  other  nation  whatever.  .  .  .  For  there 
is  no  nation  or  people  under  the  Sun  that  doth  love  equal  and 
indifferent  Justice  better  than  the  Irish ;  or  will  rest  better  satis- 
fied with  the  Execution  thereof,  although  it  be  against  them- 
selves; so  as  they  may  have  the  Protection  and  Benefit  of  the 
Law,  when  upon  just  cause  they  do  desire  it." 

Five  times  within  the  past  seven  or  eight  years  the  writer 
has  noticed,  in  the  Irish  newspapers  from  the  south  and  west 
of  Ireland  which  have  passed  under  his  limited  observation, 
the  circumstance  that  no  criminal  case  had  been  placed  on 
the  docket  in  the  preceding  three  months  even  where  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  judge  had  covered  a  large  circuit  of  coun- 
try. On  each  occasion  the  judge  had  been  presented  with 
a  pair  of  white  gloves  by  the  sheriff,  to  indicate  the  circum- 
stance; certainly  this  occurrence  was  not  infrequent,  as  the 
custom  is  evidently  an  established  one.''  Had  a  similar  in- 
stance ever  occurred  within  the  same  extent  of  territory  in 
England,  it  is  incredible  that  the  world  at  large  would  have 
been  kept  in  ignorance  of  the  fact. 

Newenham  gives  us  some  information  bearing  upon  the 
claim  that  comparatively  less  crime  existed  in  the  Catholic 
portions  of  Ireland.     He  states  as  follows ': 

'  Historical  Relations ;  or,  a  Discovery  of  the  True  Causes  why  Ireland  was 
never  Entirely  Subdued,  etc.,  Dublin  edition,  1733,  pp.  116  and  123. 

'See  Appendix,  note  i. 

'  A  View  of  the  Natural,  Political  and  Commercial  Circumstances  of  Ire- 
land.    By  Thomas  Newenham,  Esqr.,  etc.,  London,  1809,  p.  197.     We  will 


8  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

"It  will  be  seen  by  a  very  accurate  return  in  the  Appendix 
marked  30,  of  the  persons  sentenced  to  be  hanged  or  transported, 
in  the  County  of  Cork,  containing  nearly  a  half  a  million  of  Ro- 
man Catholics,  that,  exclusive  of  the  year  of  the  rebellion,  there 
were  only  one  hundred  and  six  sentenced  to  be  hanged,  and  one 
hundred  and  sixty-nine  transported  in  forty  years,  ending  with 
1807;  of  which  number,  by  the  way,  a  certain  portion  were  prob- 
ably Protestants ;  and  of  these  there  does  not  appear  to  have  been 
a  single  individual  hanged  or  transported  for  infanticide,  sodomy, 
or  bestiality;  while  in  England  in  one  year,  viz.,  1805,  there  were 
twenty-seven  females  committed  for  the  murder  of  their  infants, 
and  fifteen  men  for  sodomy  and  bestiality.  The  populous  City 
of  Cork,  in  which  the  Roman  Catholics  are  to  the  Protestants  as 
about  seven  to  two,  is  freer  from  criminals  of  every  kind  than 
perhaps  any  city  of  equal  magnitude  in  the  world.  It  has  not, 
and  needs  not  a  regular  police.  Several  assizes  have  passed  with- 
out a  single  capital  conviction.  Waterford,  where  the  Roman 
Catholics  are  more  numerous,  is  remarkable  for  supplying  the 
judges  with  gold  fringed  gloves. ' ' 

In  proof  of  the  claimed  superior  efificiency  of  British  penal 
methods  the  fact  has  been  cited  by  the  Press  for  illustration 
that  in  Ireland  there  were  1631  convictions  in  1861  and  only 
292  in  1 89 1,  and  the  decrease  was  attributed  to  the  severe 
justice  of  British  punitive  measures.  The  truth  as  to  cause 
and  effect  is  indeed  doubtful.  Juries  are  still  too  frequently 
packed  and  false  swearing  is  yet  too  frequently  employed  in 
Ireland  by  the  administrators  of  English  injustice,  as  we  will 
show  hereafter,  to  prove  more  than  that  there  should  have 
been  a  better  record  for  the  Irish  people  in  1891.  There 
was  doubtless  some  special  provocation  in  1861  offered  by 

have  frequently  to  refer  to  this  work,  as  the  author  was  a  man  of  close  ob- 
servation with  an  extensive  knowledge  of  Irish  history  and  of  Ireland's  re- 
sources. He  was  a  member  of  the  Established  Church  and  uncompromising  in 
his  loyalty  to  the  British  Government.  He  was  a  native  of  Cork,  Ireland, 
was  an  advocate  of  the  Union  with  England  ;  but  a  few  years  after,  when  this 
work  was  written,  he  had  already  realized  that  England  was  alone  to  be  bene- 
fited. The  work  is  particularly  free  from  all  religious  prejudice  and  political 
bias,  while  his  views  are  expressed  with  the  justness  of  a  judicial  training. 


Introduction  9 

the  "guardians  of  the  Peace  "  to  increase  the  numbers  and 
for  some  special  purpose  now  forgotten.  But  Ireland  con- 
tinues far  to  outdistance  all  other  European  countries  in 
crimelessness.  Official  statistics  for  the  year  1900  recently 
published  show  a  decrease  of  10.2  per  cent,  in  indictable 
offences  and  18.2  per  cent,  in  minor  offences,  as  compared 
with  the  preceding  year.' 

John  Bright,  showing  his  appreciation  of  the  Irish  people, 
made  the  following  statements  in  Parliament " : 

' '  An  honourable  member  from  Ireland,  referring  to  the  char- 
acter of  the  Irish  people  says,  '  There  is  no  Christian  nation  with 
which  we  are  acquainted,  amongst  whose  people  crime  of  the 
ordinary  character  (as  we  reckon  it)  is  so  rare  as  amongst  the 
Irish.'  He  might  have  said  also,  that  there  is  no  people,  what- 
ever they  may  be  at  home,  more  industrious  than  the  Irish  in 
every  country  but  their  own.  He  might  have  said  more,  that 
they  are  a  people  of  a  cheerful  and  joyous  temperament,  that  they 
are  singularly  grateful  for  a  kindness  and  that  of  all  people  of  our 
race,  they  are  filled  with  the  strongest  sentiments  of  veneration. 
And  yet,  with  such  material  and  such  people,  of  the  centuries  of 
government,  after  sixty-five  years  of  government  by  this  House, 
(since  the  Union)  you  have  them  embittered  against  your  rule 
and  anxious  to  throw  off  the  authority  of  the  Crown  and  Queen 
of  this  realm.  This  is  merely  an  access  of  the  complaint  Ireland 
has  been  suffering  under  during  the  lifetime  of  the  oldest  man  in 
this  House,  that  of  Chronic  insurrection." 

The  English  people  at  large  have  certainly  been  kept  in  a 
state  of  profound  ignorance  of  the  Irish  people  and  of  their 
suffering,  and  this  condition  has  existed  from  the  beginning 
of  the  English  rule  to  the  present  day.  It  would  seem  as  if 
it  had  ever  been  held  an  evidence  of  loyalty  to  the  Govern- 
ment on  the  part  of  the  Press  throughout  Great  Britain  to 
misrepresent  the  Irish  people  and  their  wrongs.^     The  dis- 

'  See  Appendix,  note  i. 

'^  Bright's  Speeches,  vol.  i.,  p.  351. 

*  See  Appendix,  note  2. 


lo  Ireland  under  EnMish  Rule 

o 

reputable  course  of  the  London  Times  in  fostering  a  forgery 
to  the  injury  of  the  late  Charles  Stewart  Parnell,  and  the  de- 
velopments in  the  subsequent  suit  for  libel  brought  by  him, 
may  be  cited  on  the  one  hand  and  the  course  of  the  editor 
who  dares  not  print  the  truth,  through  fear  of  the  conse- 
quences, may  be  taken  as  the  other  extreme.  Consequently, 
from  the  natural  prejudice  and  hatred  of  the  many,  the 
views  of  those  who  dare  give  the  truth  have  never  reached 
those  who  have  most  needed  a  knowledge  of  it.  The  Press 
and  the  writers  of  so-called  history,  written  in  the  English 
interests,  have  thus  kept  the  people  at  large  in  ignorance  of 
Irish  affairs  and  there  has  been  no  means  of  enlightening 
them,  unless  an  individual  has  been  within  reach  of  tradition 
or  has  had  access  to  the  writings  of  those  who  lived  beyond 
the  power  of  the  British  Government. 

For  the  past  six  hundred  years  the  Irish  people  have  been 
treated  by  the  English  as  an  inferior,  despised  and  con- 
quered race.  The  two  peoples  have  never  had  anything  in 
common  nor  have  they  ever  understood  each  other.  The 
English  have  not  realized  the  fact  that  they  have  never  con- 
quered Ireland,  by  breaking  the  spirit  of  the  Irish  people, 
and  can  never  do  so ;  they  have  simply  held  the  country  in 
subjection — a  condition  only  to  be  maintained  by  force  or 
by  conciliatory  measures. 

No  Englishman — even  Mr.  Gladstone  himself — has  ever 
shown  that  he  was  able  to  understand  the  Irish  people  or 
their  needs  and,  whenever  an  attempt  has  been  made  to 
render  tardy  justice,  it  has  failed  from  this  cause.  The  re- 
sult has  been  that  a  great  mass  of  the  English  people,  in 
their  ignorance,  have  reached  the  conclusion  that  nothing 
can  be  done  to  conciliate  Ireland,  that  coercion  is  the  only 
remedy ;  and  they  have  spread  abroad  among  a  large  por- 
tion of  the  English-speaking  world  the  same  conviction. 

Edmund  Spenser,  the  poet,  as  Secretary  to  Lord  Grey, 
the  Lord  Deputy  of  Ireland,  wrote  in   1596'  his   View  of 

'  A  View  of  the  State  of  Ireland,  etc.  Reprinted  by  the  Hibernia  Press, 
Dublin,  1809. 


Introduction  1 1 

the  State  of  Ireland  in  a  work  which  shows  him  to  have 
been  a  thinking  man  and  a  close  observer.  It  is  written  as 
a  dialogue  between  "Endoxus"  and  "Irenaeus,"  and  the 
latter  at  the  beginning  answers  the  first  question  as  follows : 

"  Marry  so  there  have  bin  divers  good  plottes  devised  and  wise 
councels  cast  already  about  the  reformation  of  that  realme,  but 
they  say,  it  is  the  fatall  destiny  of  that  land,  that  no  purposes 
whatsoever  which  are  meant  for  her  good  will  prosper  or  take 
effect,  which,  whether  it  proceed  from  the  very  genius  of  the  soyle 
or  influence  of  the  starres,  or  that  Almighty  God  hath  not  yet  ap- 
pointed the  time  of  her  reformation,  or  that  hee  reserveth  her  in 
this  unquiet  state  still  for  some  secret  scourge  which  shall  by  her 
come  unto  England,  it  is  hard  to  be  knowne,  but  yet  much  to  be 
feared. ' ' 

Three  hundred  years  have  not  changed  the  situation,  as 
England  has  continued  to  be  as  indifferent  to  the  prosperity 
and  needs  of  the  Irish  people  as  she  was  previous  to  the 
time  of  Spenser.  Misrule,  and  its  consequences  in  the 
present  condition  of  Ireland,  is  to-day  no  less  a  menace  as  a 
"scourge  "  to  England.  Stranger  things  have  happened  in 
the  past  than  the  overthrow  of  the  British  Empire  would 
prove  in  some  revolutionary  movement  in  Europe,  which 
may  arise  from  the  slightest  provocation ;  and  Ireland  may 
yet  be  the  Nemesis  in  England's  future. 

But  the  Irish  people  have  been  patient  and  long-suffering. 
The  condition  of  affairs  which  the  writer  will  hereafter  treat 
of  at  some  length  is  one  well  known  to  the  student  of  Irish 
history.  It  is  one  that  has  continued  to  repeat  itself  in  Ire- 
land for  hundreds  of  years,  always  existing,  as  the  Pitts  and 
the  Castlereaghs  of  successive  generations  gained  control  of 
Irish  affairs.  The  record  of  those  representing  the  British 
Government  and  of  the  present  Tory  party  in  particular,  or 
of  all  who  have  held  like  views  under  some  other  cognomen, 
has  been  from  the  beginning  of  English  rule  in  Ireland  an 
unbroken  one  of  corruption  and  bribery.  The  infamous 
laws  and  plots  of  these  enemies  to  Ireland's  prosperity  have 


12  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

been  carried  out  by  brute  force  and  have  been  frequently- 
associated  with  a  degree  of  cruelty  and  violence  which 
would  have  excited  the  envy  of  Nero. 

Moreover,  under  these  laws  some  nine-tenths  of  the  popu- 
lation of  Ireland  have  been  oppressed,  in  consequence  of 
the  religious  discrimination  made  for  the  advantage  of  the 
favored  few. 

It  is  an  exception  to  the  rule  to  find  an  Englishman  in 
authority  at  home,  above  the  lowest  walks  of  life,  showing 
the  brutal  instincts  which  he  has  so  commonly  exhibited  as 
an  official  in  Ireland  and  which  he  seems  so  well  able  also 
to  excite  in  those  who  become  identified  with  him  there. 
Yet  it  requires  little  observation  to  realize  that  under  healthy 
and  good  influence  human  nature  is  kindly  and  very  much 
the  same  the  world  over. 

Therefore,  it  is  but  charitable  to  take  exception  more  to 
the  system  in  Ireland,  which  has  become  the  settled  policy  of 
the  Government  and  which  produces  a  feeling  of  hatred  and 
contempt,  than  to  the  English  people  in  Ireland,  who  might 
as  individuals  be  different  under  more  friendly  influences. 

As  the  Irish  people  have  for  centuries  been  subjected  to 
the  greatest  degree  of  uncertainty  as  to  their  future  and 
have  been  constantly  involved  in  the  turmoil  of  war  and 
confiscation  of  property,  no  one  among  them  has  been  able 
to  give  to  the  world  a  true  or  full  version  of  their  sufferings. 
Fortunately,  however,  a  true  history  can  be  readily  written 
on  the  evidence  of  their  greatest  enemies.  Almost  every 
prominent  Englishman  in  the  early  days  who  has  ever  had 
any  connection  with  Irish  affairs,  and  who  was  particularly 
noted  at  least  for  hatred  of  the  Irish  people,  has  left  behind 
him  some  personal  narrative  or  official  document  wherein, 
by  the  boasting  description  of  his  exploits,  he  has  placed  on 
record  the  needed  information.  Such  evidence,  however, 
as  a  rule  has  been  ignored  by  the  English  historian  of  Irish 
affairs  or,  if  placed  on  record,  it  has  been  for  some  other 
purpose  than  that  of  justice  and  its  true  bearing  has  been 
disguised. 


Introduction  13 

From  every  crime  known  to  man  Ireland  has  been  a 
sufferer  by  the  acts  of  the  English  Government  officials  or 
from  the  English  troops  holding  the  country  and  the  Irish 
people  have  been  victims,  not  in  isolated  instances  but  of 
continuous  persecution  extending  through  centuries. 

The  Irish  people  have  offered  up  a  host  of  martyrs,  cen- 
tury after  century,  in  resisting  the  invasion  of  different  races 
of  land-robbers  and  in  later  years  for  the  preservation  of 
their  faith.  The  members  of  every  Catholic  family  who 
have  remained  true  to  their  traditions,  with  many  who  are 
not  of  that  faith  but  who  have  an  equal  love  of  country,  can 
all  join  in  reiterating  the  sentiment  common  to  their 
ancestry : 

"  We  hate  the  Saxon  and  the  Dane, 
We  hate  the  Norman  men — 
We  cursed  their  greed  for  blood  and  gain, 
We  curse  them  now  again."  * 

Taaffe  has  thus  written  of  the  English ' : 

"Their  historians  are  gravely  employed  to  publish  historical 
lies  against  this  country,  not  a  paltry  compilation  can  be  pub- 
lished, under  the  title  of  Gazetteer,  Geography,  Magazine,  but 
must  mangle  and  disfigure  the  name  and  character  of  Ireland, 
But  people  are  not  to  be  credited  to  our  disadvantage  who  demon- 
strate their  abhorrence  of  truth  and  their  enmity  to  historical 
monuments,  in  diligently  robbing  us  of  our  records  and  manu- 
scripts of  every  kind ;  as  far  as  their  utmost  power  and  influence 
could  reach,  using  their  best  endeavors  to  destroy  all  remem- 
brance of  past  events,  that  they  may  be  at  liberty  to  publish  their 
own  malicious  forgeries,  without  fear  of  detection.  The  monu- 
ments of  Irish  genius  are  scattered  to  the  winds ;  the  records  and 

'  From  the  poem  Ce/fs  and  Saxons,  by  Tho.  Davis,  of  T/ie  Nation. 

^  An  Impartial  History  of  Ireland,  etc.,  by  Dennis  Taaffe,  Dublin,  l8il, 
vol.  i.,  p.  527.  The  fifth  volume  of  this  work  was  never  published.  It  has 
been  generally  stated  that  it  was  seized  and  suppressed  by  the  Government. 
As  the  author  was  plain  spoken  and  very  familiar  with  the  details  of  the  sub- 
ject, its  destruction  may  have  been  a  prudent  measure  from  an  English  stand- 
point. 


14  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

memorials  of  our  fame  dispersed  or  destroyed;  the  memory  of 
the  illustrious  dead  and  the  character  of  the  living  are  equally 
insulted;  we  are  stript  bare,  and  then  reproached  with  our 
poverty;  we  have  been  deprived  of  education  and  then  re- 
proached with  our  ignorance ;  our  colleges,  that  abounded  with 
learning  and  learned  men,  who  enlightened  Europe,  our  Semi- 
naries of  Physic,  Poetry,  Music  &c.  were  suppressed,  and  their 
scientific  labours  destroyed  or  carried  off,  and  we  are  insultingly 
told,  that  our  ancestors  were  barbarians;  we  have  been  deprived 
of  our  manufacturies,  and  the  means  of  employing  and  feading 
our  people  and  they  are  reproached  with  laziness. 

"  Like  a  wreck  drifted  by  the  storm  to  a  barbarous  inhospitable 
shore,  our  spoils  are  become  the  prey  of  the  robber  and  the 
thief. ' ' 

The  whole  record  in  relation  to  Irish  affairs  is  what  Law- 
less years  ago  described  it  to  be : 

"  There  is  but  little  respite  from  exasperating  oppression  and 
unmerited  cruelty.  The  eye  wanders  over  a  dreary  scene  of 
desolation  without  a  single  point  on  which  it  can  rest. 

"The  heart  of  the  philanthropist  sinks  under  a  hopeless  de- 
spondency; and  passively  yields  to  the  unchristian  and  impious 
reflection,  that  the  poor  people  of  Ireland  are  a  devoted  race, 
whom  Providence  has  abandoned  to  the  malignant  ingenuity  of 
an  insatiable  enemy." 

Isaac  Butt  tells  us  ' : 

"It  is  no  loss  to  any  Irishman  " — nor  to  the  reader  we  may 
add — "  to  be  compelled  to  go  slowly  and  minutely  over  the  history 
of  the  past — even  as  a  study  in  political  or  social  science,  there 
are  few  subjects  better  worth  investigation  than  those  connected 
with  the  condition  of  the  Irish  people  for  the  last  200  years  (166.7- 
1867).  Ireland  in  that  period  has  but  little  history  to  those  who 
know  history  only  as  the  record  of  the  events  which  affect  Dy- 
nasties and  Sovereigns  and  Governments.  There  is  much  for 
those  who  place  the  real  value  of  history  in  the  tracing  of  the 
things  which  make  up  the  every-day  life  of  a  people.     In  this 

'  The  Irish  People  and  the  Irish  Land,  etc.,  by  Isaac  Butt,  1867,  pp. 
293-294. 


Introduction  15 

sense  I  know  of  no  stranger  or  more  instructive  passage  in  the 
life  of  mankind  than  the  story  of  Ireland,  from  the  day  when 
strange  proprietors  were  set  over  her  confiscated  soil.  Her  story 
— not  in  camps,  or  courts,  or  senates — her  story  in  her  villages, 
her  farms,  her  farm-houses  and  her  hovels,  in  all  the  changes  of 
her  peasant  life — in  the  relations  between  those  who  owned  and 
those  who  occupied  the  soil — in  the  serfdom  and  misery,  and  the 
oppression  of  the  old  race — in  the  effects  which  all  this  produced 
upon  her  national  industry  and  prosperity — upon  the  character 
and  condition  of  all  classes. 

' '  When  we  can  bring  all  this  in  one  view  before  your  mind  we 
have  a  great  historic  picture,  in  the  scenes  of  which  we  see  some- 
thing very  different  from  the  mere  image  of  beggary  and  crime — 
we  see  vividly  pourtrayed  before  us  the  working  of  all  the  ele- 
ments and  passions  which  create  national  happiness  and  misery 
— scenes  which  impress  upon  us  the  most  striking  illustration  of 
political  and  economic  laws.  May  I  stop  to  say,  that  surely  we 
may  perceive  in  that  view  those  higher  moral  lessons  which  his- 
tory teaches  us,  that  sometimes,  at  least  in  national  affairs,  op- 
pression and  wrong  are  blunders  as  well  as  crimes. 

"Who  has  profited  by  the  grievous  oppression  of  the  Irish 
people?  What  cause  has  prospered  which  that  oppression  was 
designed  to  secure?  The  old  people  were  crushed  down  to  pro- 
tect the  English  interest,  the  Protestant  interest  and  the  new  pro- 
prietors. Has  the  English  interest  been  really  upheld?  If  the 
most  malignant  and  wily  enemy  of  England  had  devised  the 
policy,  by  which  Ireland  was  to  be  reserved  to  be  her  '  secret 
scourge  '  in  some  future  day,  could  his  aim  have  been  more  effect- 
ually worked  out  than  it  has  been  by  the  result  of  the  very  system 
of  government  which  was  justified  by  the  plea  that  the  interests  of 
England  must  be  upheld?  " 


CHAPTER   I 

THE   IRISH    LANGUAGE,    EARLY   CIVILIZATION   AND 
TRADITIONS 

Before  entering  upon  our  subject — ^Ireland  under  Eng- 
lish Rule — we  should  consider  briefly  the  early  history  of 
her  language,  laws,  literature  and  civilization,  as  the  asser- 
tion is  often  made  by  English  writers  that  Ireland  was 
in  a  condition  of  semi-barbarism  when  Henry  H.  made  his 
first  attempt  to  seize  the  country.  Fortunately  the  fact 
can  be  easily  established  that  the  Irish  were  a  learned  race 
long  before  the  Roman  civilization  culminated  and  they 
maintained  the  same  eminence  for  centuries  and  until  the 
English  had  overrun  the  country.  The  invaders  then  closed 
all  the  centres  of  learning  and  destroyed  as  far  as  possible 
every  vestige  of  Ireland's  former  civilization,  that  the  people 
might  be  kept  in  a  state  of  ignorance  for  centuries  thereafter. 

Ireland's  decadence  from  the  position  which  she  had  oc- 
cupied for  at  least  a  thousand  years  was  due  directly  to  the 
destructive  efforts  of  the  semi-savage  Normans  who  first 
successfully  invaded  the  country  in  quest  of  land  and  plun- 
der. The  same  destructive  spirit  and  motive  were  maintained 
for  centuries  after  by  their  descendants  through  fear  of  a 
people  which  could  not  be  conquered,  short  of  extermina- 
tion, and  in  later  years  even  extermination  was  attempted 
from  religious  bigotry. 

O'Hart  writes  ' : 

"  In  Connellan's  Four  Masters  we  read — '  The  great  affinity  be- 
'  Irish  Pedigrees,  or  the  Origin  and  Stem  of  the  Irish  Nation,  John  O'Hart, 
Dublin,  1892,  vol.  i.,  p.  g. 

16 


Language,  Civilization  and  Traditions      17 

tween  the  Phoenician  and  Irish  language  and  alphabet  has  been 
shown  by  various  learned  antiquaries — as  Vallancey,  Sir  Laurence 
Parsons,  Sir  Wm.  Betham,  Villaneuva,  and  others;  and  they 
have  likewise  pointed  out  a  similarity  between  the  Irish  language 
and  that  of  the  Carthaginians,  who  were  a  colony  of  the  Tyrians 
and  Phoenicians.  The  Phoenician  alphabet  was  brought  to  Greece 
from  Egypt  by  Cadmus.  And  Phoenix,  brother  of  Cadmus  the 
Phoenician  who  first  introduced  letters  amongst  the  Greeks  and 
Phoenicians,  is  considered  by  O'Flaverty,  Charles  O'Connor  and 
others  to  be  the  same  as  the  celebrated  Phoeniusa  (or  Feniusa) 
Farsaidh  of  the  old  historians,  who  state  that  he  was  King  of 
Scythia  and  ancestor  of  the  Milesians  of  Spain  who  came  to  Ire- 
land; and  that,  being  a  man  of  great  learning,  he  invented  the 
Irish  alphabet,  which  his  Milesian  posterity  brought  to  Ireland; 
and  it  may  be  further  observed  that  the  Irish  in  their  own  lan- 
guage, were  from  Phoeniusa  or  Feniusa,  called  Feine,  a  term 
latinized  Phoenii,  and  signifying  Phoenicians,  as  shown  by  Charles 
O'Connor  and  in  O'Brien's  Dictionary." 

We  also  find  in  a  note  on  the  same  page  by  O'Hart: 

"  It  is  to  the  Gaelic  language  that  the  following  stanza,  trans- 
lated from  a  poem  written  in  the  third  century  by  the  Irish 
Monarch  Carbre  Liffechar,  refers — 

' '  '  Sweet  tongue  of  our  Druids  and  bards  of  poet  ages  ; 

Sweet  tongue  of  our  Monarchs,  our  Saints  and  our  Sages  ; 
Sweet  tongue  of  our  heroes  and  free-born  Sires, 
When  we  cease  to  preserve  thee  otir  glory  expires.''  "  ' 

The  earliest  Irish  writers  claimed  the  existence  of  au- 
thentic records  of  their  own  country's  history  to  a  most 

'  We  may  accept  the  last  line  of  this  stanza,  written  sixteen  centuries  ago,  in 
the  spirit  of  a  prophecy,  for  truly  Ireland's  glory  as  a  nation  has  waned  since 
her  language  ceased  to  be  in  common  use.  The  alarm  has  been  sounded  none 
too  soon  among  the  sons  and  daughters  of  Erin  throughout  the  world,  with  the 
object  of  showing  that  all  spirit  of  nationality  must  eventually  be  lost  and  in 
the  near  future,  unless  a  knowledge  of  the  Irish  language  be  revived.  Most 
gratifying  is  the  progress  already  made  towards  accomplishing  this  purpose, 
particularly  in  having  the  Irish  language  brought  into  common  use  throughout 
Ireland  among  the  '  National  schools '  where  for  many  years  its  use  had  been 
forbidden. 

VOL.  I. — 2. 


1 8  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

remote  period.  So  general  was  the  destruction  of  all  such 
records  by  the  Normans  and  to  a  less  extent  by  the  Danes 
that,  until  the  results  of  recent  investigations  became  known, 
it  was  impossible  to  disprove  the  statements  made  by  the 
English  writers  that  Ireland  was  uncivilized  at  the  coming 
of  Henry  II.  Dr.  John  O'Donovan,  in  his  introductory 
remarks  to  his  translation  of  the  Annals  of  the  Kingdom  of 
Ireland  by  the  Four  Masters,  writes : 

"  The  accuracy  of  ancient  dates  being  thus  apocryphal,  we  are 
driven  to  regard  the  catalogue  of  Kings,  given  by  Gilla — Gaemain 
and  others,  as  a  mere  attempt  at  reducing  to  chronological  order 
the  accumulated  traditions  of  the  Poets  and  Seanachies  of  Ire- 
land. But  that  a  list  of  Irish  Monarchs  was  attempted  to  be 
made  out  at  a  very  early  period  is  now  generally  admitted  by  the 
best  antiquaries.  Mr,  Pinkerton,  who  denies  to  the  Irish  the  use 
of  letters  before  their  conversion  to  Christianity,  still  admits  the 
antiquity  of  their  list  of  Kings — *  Foreigners  '  (he  remarks)  '  may 
imagine  that  it  is  granting  too  much  to  the  Irish  to  allow  them 
lists  of  Kings  more  ancient  than  those  of  any  other  country  in 
modern  Europe ;  but  the  singularly  compact  and  remote  situation 
of  that  Island,  and  its  freedom  from  Roman  conquest  and  from 
the  concussions  of  the  fall  of  the  Roman  Empire,  may  infer  this 
allowance  not  too  much.  But  all  contended  for  is  the  list  of 
Kings,  so  easily  preserved  by  the  repetition  of  bards  at  high 
solemnities  and  some  grand  events  of  History.'  {^Inquiry  into 
the  History  of  Scotland,  d^c.     By  John  Pinkerton.) 

' '  At  what  period  regular  annals  first  began  to  be  compiled 
with  regard  to  minute  chronology  we  have  no  means  of  determin- 
ing; but  we  may  safely  infer  from  the  words  of  Tighernach,  that 
the  ancient  historical  documents  existing  in  his  time  were  all  re- 
garded by  him  as  uncertain  before  the  period  of  Gimbaeth, 
the  commencement  of  whose  reign  he  fixes  to  the  year  before 
Christ  305.  His  significant  words,  Omina  Monumenta  Scot- 
oruni  usque  Gimbaeth  incerta  erant,  inspire  a  feeling  of  confidence 
in  this  compiler  which  commands  respect  for  those  facts 
he  has  transmitted  to  us,  even  when  they  relate  to  the  period 
antecedent  to  the  Christian  Era.  .  .  .  The  compiler  fre- 
quently citing  the  names  of  the  authors  or  compilers  whose  works 


Language,  Civilization  and  Traditions      19 

he  had  before  him.  .  .  .  From  these  notices  we  have  reason 
to  believe  that  the  ecclesiastical  writers  carried  forward  a  con- 
tinuous chronicle  from  age  to  age;  each  succeeding  annalist 
transmitting  the  records  which  he  found  existing  along  with  his 
own ;  thus  giving  to  the  whole  series  the  force  of  contemporary- 
evidence.  The  precision  with  which  the  compiler  of  the  Annals 
of  Ulster  has  transmitted  the  account  of  an  eclipse  of  the  sun, 
which  took  place  in  the  year  664,  affords  a  proof  that  his  entry 
was  derived  from  a  contemporaneous  record." 

The  following  notices  of  eclipses  and  comets  from  A.  D. 
495  to  A.D.  1065,  copied  from  various  works,  show  that  they 
were  recorded  originally  by  eye-witnesses. 

The  special  eclipse  referred  to  above  is  thus  described : 

"  A.D.  673.  Nubes  tenuis  et  tremula  ad  speciem  celestis  arciis 
iv  vigilia  noctis  vi  feria  ante  pasca  ab  oriente  in  occidentem  per 
serenum  celum  apparuit.     Luna  in  sanguinem  versa  est." 

Dr.  O'Donovan  states  in  continuation  of  the  subject: 

"  The  dates  assigned  to  these  eclipses  are  confirmed  by  their 
accordance  with  the  catalogue  of  eclipses  in  L'Art  De  Ver.  Les 
Dates,  Tom.  i,  pp.  62-69;  ^"^  from  this  accuracy  it  must  be 
acknowledged  that  they  have  been  obtained  by  actual  observation 
and  not  from  scientific  calculations ;  for  it  is  well  known  that  any 
after  calculations,  made  before  the  correction  of  the  Dionysian 
Period,  would  not  have  given  such  correct  results." 

Mr.  Moore  has  the  following  remarks  upon  the  eclipse  of 
664': 

"  The  precision  with  which  the  Irish  annalists  have  recorded  to 
the  month,  day,  and  hour,  an  eclipse  of  the  sun,  which  took  place  in 
the  year  664,  affords  both  an  instance  of  the  exceeding  accuracy 
with  which  they  observed  and  noted  passing  events,  and  also  an 
undeniable  proof  that  the  annals  for  that  year,  though  long  since 
lost,  must  have  been  in  the  hands  of  those  who  have  transmitted  to 
us  that  remarkable  record.  In  calculating  the  period  of  the  same 
^History  of  Ireland,  etc.,  vol.  i.,  p.  163. 


20  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

eclipse  the  Venerable  Bede,  led  astray,  it  is  plain  by  his  ignorance 
of  that  yet  undetected  error  of  the  Dionysian  Cycle,  by  which 
the  equation  of  the  motion  of  the  sun  and  moon  was  affected, — 
exceeds  the  true  event  by  several  days.  Whereas  the  Irish  chron- 
icler, wholly  ignorant  of  the  rules  of  astronomy,  and  merely  re- 
cording what  he  had  seen  passing  before  his  eyes, — namely,  that 
the  eclipse  occurred  about  the  tenth  hour  on  the  3rd  of  May, 
in  the  year  664,  has  transmitted  a  date  to  posterity,  of  which  suc- 
ceeding astronomers  have  acknowledged  the  accuracy." 

O'Donovan  in  continuation  writes: 

"  At  what  period  it  became  the  practice  in  Ireland  to  record 
public  events  in  the  shape  of  annals  has  not  been  yet  accurately 
determined;  but  it  will  not  be  too  much  to  assume  that  the  prac- 
tice began  with  the  first  introduction  of  Christianity  into  the 
country.  Now,  it  is  highly  probable  that  there  were  Christian 
communities  in  Ireland  long  before  the  final  establishment  of 
Christianity  by  St.  Patrick,  in  the  Fifth  century.  We  learn  from 
St.  Chrysostom,  in  his  Demonstratio  Quod  Christus  sit  Deus, 
written  in  the  year  387,  that  the  British  Islands,  situated  out- 
side the  Mediterranean  Sea,  and  in  the  very  Ocean  itself,  had 
felt  the  power  of  the  Divine  Word,  churches  having  been  founded 
there  and  altars  erected." 

"  But  the  most  decided  evidence  that  the  Irish  had  the  use  of 
letters  before  St.  Patrick's  time,  is  derived  from  the  account  of 
Celestius,  an  Irishman,  the  favourite  disciple  of  the  Heresiarch 
Pelagius.  St.  Jerome,  alluding  to  a  criticism  of  Celestius  upon 
his  Commentaries  on  the  Epistle  of  St.  Paul  to  the  £phesians,  thus 
launches  out  against  this  bold  heretic,  etc." 

*'  This  passage  affords  sufficient  evidence  to  prove  that  the 
Scotica  gens,"  (Irish  race)  "in  the  neighbourhood  of  Britain,  had 
the  use  of  letters  towards  the  close  of  the  Fourth  century;  and 
it  may  be  added,  that  a  country  that  produced  such  able  men  as 
Celestius  and  Albinus  could  hardly  have  been  an  utter  stranger 
to  civilisation  at  the  time  they  flourished.  On  the  whole,  it  may 
be  conjectured,  with  probability,  that  letters  were  known  to  the 
Irish  about  the  reign  of  Cormac,  son  of  Art;  and  this  throws  the 
boundary  between  what  must  have  been  traditional,  and  what  may 


Early  Irish  Chronicles  21 

have  been  original  written  records,  so  far  back  as  to  remove  all 
objection  on  that  ground  to  the  authenticity  of  the  following 
annals,"  (of  the  Four  Masters)  "  from  at  least  the  Second  century 
of  the  Christian  era.  The  reader  will  find  these  conclusions  sup- 
ported by  the  opinions  of  a  historian  '  of  the  highest  character,  on 
the  general  authenticity  and  historical  value  of  that  portion  of  the 
Irish  annals  made  accessible  to  him  by  the  labours  of  Dr.  O'Conor: 
"  '  The  chronicles  of  Ireland,  written  in  the  Irish  language,  from 
the  Second  century  to  the  landing  of  Henry  Plantagenet,  have 
been  recently  published,  with  the  fullest  evidence  of  their  genu- 
ineness and  exactness.  The  Irish  nation,  though  they  are  robbed 
of  their  legends  by  this  authentic  publication,  are  yet  by  it  enabled 
to  boast  that  they  possess  genuine  history  several  centuries  more 
ancient  than  any  other  European  nation  possesses,  in  its  present 
spoken  language.  They  have  exchanged  their  legendary  antiquity 
for  historical  fame — indeed,  no  other  nation  possesses  any  monu- 
ment of  its  literature,  in  its  present  spoken  language,  which  goes 
back  within  several  centuries  of  these  chronicles.'  " 

Dr.  Keating  states  in  his  Preface  * : 

"  If  it  be  objected,  that  the  chronicles  of  Ireland  are  liable  to 
suspicion  and  may  be  justly  questioned,  let  it  be  observed  in  re- 
ply that  no  people  in  the  world  took  more  care  to  preserve  the 
authority  of  their  public  records  and  to  deliver  them  uncorrupt 
to  posterity.  The  chronicles  of  the  Kingdom  were  solemnly 
purged  and  examined  every  three  years  in  the  Royal  House  of 
Tara,  in  the  presence  of  the  Nobility  and  Clergy  and  in  a  full 
assembly  of  the  most  learned  and  eminent  antiquaries  of  the 
country. 

' '  The  treaties  that  are  to  be  seen  at  this  day  in  the  Irish  lan- 
guage, contain  particular  relations  of  all  memorable  battles  and 
transactions  that  happened  in  Ireland  from  the  first  account  of 
time  and  give  an  account  of  the  genealogies  of  the  principal 
families  in  the  Island ;  and  the  authority  of  these  public  records 
cannot  be  questioned,  when  it  is  considered  that  there  were  above 
two  hundred  chroniclers  and  antiquaries,  whose  business  was  to 

'  Sir  James  Mackintosh,  History  of  England,  vol.  i.,  chap.  2. 
^  General  History  of  Ireland,  etc.,  by  Geoffrey  Keating,  D.D.     Translated 
from  the  Irish  language  by  Dermod  O'Connor,  &c. 


22  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

preserve  and  record  all  actions  and  affairs  of  consequence  relating 
to  the  public;  they  had  revenues  and  salaries  settled  upon  them 
for  their  maintenance  and  to  support  the  dignity  of  their  char- 
acter; their  annals  and  histories  were  submitted  to  the  examination 
and  censure  of  the  Nobility,  Clergy  and  Gentry,  who  were  most 
eminent  for  learning  and  assembled  for  that  purpose,  which  is 
evidence  sufficient  to  evince  their  authority  and  to  procure  them, 
upon  the  account  of  what  has  been  mentioned,  a  superior  esteem 
to  the  antiquities  of  any  other  nation,  except  the  Jewish,  through 
the  world." 

As  many  of  the  original  records  to  which  Dr.  Keating  had 
access  in  the  Sixteenth  century  and  which  were  used  for  writing 
his  history  have  long  since  disappeared,  his  endorsement  as  to 
their  accuracy  as  a  whole  is,  at  the  present  time,  of  the  greatest 
importance  in  establishing  the  value  of  what  is  left  where  fre- 
quently the  evidence  no  longer  exists  for  corroboration. 

The  origin  of  the  Brehon  laws  of  Ireland  is  unknown. 
From  many  Eastern  features  easily  recognized  it  seems  prob- 
able that  in  some  form  these  laws  were  in  existence  when  the 
Scythian  ancestors  of  the  Irish  people  were  still  wandering 
tribes,  to  the  east  of  the  Black  Sea.  With  some  resemblance 
to  Jewish  customs  and  to  others  still  observed  in  India,  and 
with  nothing  in  common  with  the  Roman  law  which  forms 
the  component  part  of  the  laws  of  all  other  civilized  nations, 
the  probability  presents  itself  that  the  Brehon  system  ante- 
dates the  existence  of  Roman  as  well  as  Grecian  civilization. 
The  Gaelic  dialect  as  spoken  in  Ireland  is  essentially  the 
same  as  the  old  Celtic  language,  which  is  one  of  the  oldest 
of  which  we  have  knowledge.  This  is  a  natural  deduction 
as  there  are  words  in  the  ancient  Greek  of  Celtic  origin  and 
the  roots  of  others  traced  to  the  same  source  appear  in  the 
Irish  language  as  spoken  at  the  present  time.  Since  the 
language  of  a  people  and  their  system  of  laws  naturally  bear 
a  close  relation,  it  may  be  assumed  that  the  early  settlers  of 
Ireland  brought  their  laws  with  them.    John  O'Hart  states  * : 

'  I)-ish  Pedigrees,  or  the  Origin  and  Stem  of  the  Irish  Nation,  Dublin,  1890, 
vol.  ii.,  p.  606. 


The  Brehon  Laws  23 

"  That  Brehonism  was  the  law  system  of  the  other  Celtic  na- 
tions, and  that  it  prevailed  amongst  the  Gauls  and  Britons  as  well 
as  amongst  the  Irish,  is  probable;  for  in  Ccesar  s  Cotntnentaries,  it 
is  stated  that  amongst  the  Edui,  one  of  the  Nations  of  Gaul,  the 
title  of  the  chief  magistrate  or  judge  was  '  Vergobretus  ' ;  that  he 
was  annually  chosen ;  and  had  the  power  of  life  and  death.  Yet 
the  term  Brehon,  in  Irish  '  Breitheamh  '  (Breha),  signifies  a  judge 
and  O'Brien  considers  that  the  term,  which  Csesar  Latinized 
'  vergobretus,'  was  in  the  Gaulic  or  Celtic,  '  Fear-go-Breith,'  sig- 
nifying the  man  of  judgement  or  a  judge.  The  term,  *  Fear-go- 
Breith,'  has  the  same  signification  in  the  Irish  (from  'Fear  '  (farr,) 
a  man,  '  go,'  of  or  with,  and  '  Breith  '  judgement);  therefore,  it 
appears  the  '  vergobretus  '  was  the  chief  Brehon  in  Gaul.  The 
Brehons  were  the  judges  and  professors  of  the  law,  and  in  ancient 
times  delivered  their  judgements  and  proclaimed  the  laws  to  the 
chief  and  people  assembled  on  the  hills  and  raths  on  public  oc- 
casions, as  at  the  conventions  of  Tara,  and  other  great  assemblies. 
The  Brehons,  like  the  bards,  presided  at  the  inaugurations  of 
Kings,  Princes  and  chiefs,  and,  as  the  judges  and  expounders 
of  the  laws,  had  great  power  and  privileges  in  the  State ;  exten- 
sive lands  were  allotted  to  them  for  their  own  use.  Each  of  the 
Irish  Kings,  Princes  and  chiefs,  had  his  own  Brehons;  and  the 
office,  like  that  of  the  bards  already  mentioned,  was  hereditary  in 
certain  families. 

"  The  most  renowned  of  these  Brehons  for  the  justice  of  his 
judgement  was  Moran,  son  of  Cairbre-Ceann-Caitt,  the  one  hun- 
dred and  first  monarch,  who  reigned  in  the  First  century  of  our 
Era&c." 

The  British  Government  appointed  a  commission  many- 
years  ago  to  translate  and  publish  the  Brehon  laws,  M^hich 
was  necessary  as  already  portions  had  been  lost.  The 
undertaking  proved  a  difficult  and  tedious  one,  as  only 
about  half  the  work  has  been  published  after  a  lapse  of 
about  fifty  years.  The  translation  of  the  whole  is  complete 
but  it  yet  will  require  many  years  fully  to  collate  and  print 
the  remainder  of  this  valuable  work.  Fortunately  the 
greater  portion,  which  has  been  printed,  is  of  the  most  inter- 
est to  the  general  reader. 


24  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

These  laws  bear  no  relation  to  the  feudal  system  but  are 
adapted  for  tribal  government  and  are  distinctly  patriarchal 
in  character. 

The  rights  and  relations  of  every  individual  were  distinctly 
provided  for,  so  that  neither  the  head  of  the  clan  nor  any 
other  person  in  authority  was  entitled  to  greater  considera- 
tion or  privilege  than  the  humblest  member  of  the  tribe; 
and  the  lands  were  all  held  in  common.  The  trades  and 
professions  were  generally  hereditary  in  certain  families ; 
which  custom  created  a  species  of  caste  as  among  Eastern 
nations.  Every  member  of  the  tribe  or  sept  had  a  common 
origin  and  kin  and  the  position  of  chief  of  the  clan  was 
elective.  Among  other  features  which  seem  to  indicate  an 
Eastern  origin  is  one  still  observed  by  the  Hindoos  in  India: 
A  creditor  fasts  at  the  door  of  his  debtor  until  the  obliga- 
tion is  discharged  and  the  indebtedness  is  often  cancelled 
through  fear  of  causing  death  from  starvation,  for  which  the 
debtor  would  be  held  responsible. 

Douglass  Hyde,  in  reference  to  the  more  technical  portion 
of  these  laws,  tells  us  ' : 

"  Most  of  the  Brehon  law  tracts  derive  their  titles  not  from 
individuals  who  promulgated  them,  but  either  from  the  subjects 
treated  of  or  else  from  some  particular  locality  connected  with 
the  composition  of  the  work.  They  are  essentially  digests  rather 
than  codes,  compilations,  in  fact,  of  learned  lawyers.  The  es- 
sential idea  of  modern  law  is  entirely  absent  from  them,  if  by  law 
is  understood  a  command  given  by  some  one  possessing  authority 
to  do  or  to  forbear  doing,  under  pains  and  penalties.  There  ap- 
pears to  be,  in  fact,  no  sanction  laid  down  in  the  Brehon  law 
against  those  who  violated  its  maxims,  nor  did  the  State  provide 
any  such.  This  was  in  truth  the  great  inherent  weakness  of  Irish 
jurisprudence,  and  it  was  one  inseparable  from  tribal  organiza- 
tion, which  lacked  the  controlling  hand  of  a  strong  central  gov- 
ernment, and  in  which  the  idea  of  the  State  as  distinguished  from 
the  tribe  had  scarcely  emerged.     If  a  litigant  chose  to  disregard 

'  A  Literary  History  of  Ireland  from  Earliest  Times  to  the  Present  Day, 
New  York,  1899,  p.  584. 


Weakness  and  Strength  of  Brehonism     25 

the  brehon's  ruling  there  was  no  machinery  of  the  law  set  in 
motion  to  force  him  to  accept  it.  The  only  executive  authority 
in  ancient  Ireland  which  lay  behind  the  decision  of  the  judge  was 
the  traditional  obedience  and  good  sense  of  the  people,  and  it 
does  not  appear  that,  with  the  full  force  of  public  opinion  behind 
them,  the  brehons  had  any  trouble  in  getting  their  decisions  ac- 
cepted by  the  common  people.  Not  that  this  was  any  part  of 
their  duty.  On  the  contrary,  their  business  was  over  so  soon  as 
they  had  pronounced  their  decision,  and  given  judgement  between 
the  contending  parties.  If  one  of  these  parties  refused  to  abide 
by  this  decision,  it  was  no  affair  of  the  brehon's,  it  was  the  con- 
cern of  the  public,  and  the  public  appear  to  have  seen  to  it  that 
the  brehon's  decision  was  always  carried  out.  This  seems  to 
have  been  indeed  the  very  essence  of  democratic  government 
with  no  executive  authority  behind  it  but  the  will  of  the  people, 
and  it  appears  to  have  trained  a  law-abiding  and  intelligent  pub- 
lic, for  the  Elizabethan  statesman.  Sir  John  Davis,  confesses 
frankly  in  his  admirable  essay  on  the  true  causes  why  Ireland 
was  never  subdued,  that  '  There  is  no  nation  or  people  under  the 
sunne  that  doth  love  equall  and  indifferent  justice  better  than  the 
Irish  J  or  will  rest  better  satisfied  with  the  execution  thereof  al- 
though it  be  against  themselves^  so  that  they  may  have  the  protection 
a?id  benefit  of  the  law,  when  upponjust  cause  they  do  desire  it. '  * 

"  The  Irish  appear  to  have  had  professional  advocates,  a  court 
of  appeal  and  regular  methods  of  procedure  for  carrying  the  case 
before  it  and  if  a  brehon  could  be  shown  to  have  delivered  a  false 
or  unjust  judgement  he  himself  was  liable  to  damages.  The  bre- 
honship  was  not  elective;  it  seems  indeed  in  later  times  to  have 
been  almost  hereditary,  but  the  brehon  had  to  pass  through  a 
long  and  tedious  course  before  he  was  permitted  to  practice;  he 
was  obliged  to  be  'qualified  in  every  department  of  legal  science,* 
says  the  text  and  the  Brehon  law  was  remarkable  for  its  copious- 
ness furnishing,  as  Sir  Samuel  Ferguson  remarks  '  a  striking  ex- 
ample of  the  length  to  which  moral  and  metaphysical  refinements 
may  be  carried  under  rude  social  conditions.'  As  a  make- 
weight against  the  privileges  which  are  always  the  concomitant  of 
riches,  the  penalties  for  misdeeds  and  omissions  of  all  kinds  were 

'  This  quotation  has  already  been  given  in  the  Introduction  but  it  will  bear 
repetition,  with  profit  to  the  reader. 


26  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

carefully  graduated  in  the  interests  of  the  poor  and  crime  or 
breach  of  contract  might  reduce  a  man  from  the  highest  to  the 
lowest  grade." 

Early  in  the  third  century  King  Cormac  Mac  Art  estab- 
lished a  college  in  Ireland  for  the  purpose  of  studying  and 
classifying  these  laws  into  a  definite  form,  from  which  in  a 
general  way  it  has  never  been  changed.  After  St.  Patrick 
had  converted  the  country  to  Christianity  a  council  was 
formed  in  438  A.D.  consisting  of  three  kings,  three  bishops 
and  three  brehons  or  judges,  who  were  commissioned  to 
cancel  every  feature  of  these  laws  which  was  found  to  con- 
flict with  Christianity  and,  after  a  labor  of  nine  years,  the 
task  was  completed.  Culinan,  the  King-Bishop  of  Cashel, 
who  died  in  903,  made  some  additional  changes,  and  it  is 
stated  that  about  a  century  later  Brian  Boru  directed  others 
to  be  made.  After  this  time  they  remained  in  the  same 
form  until  their  use  was  finally  forbidden  by  the  English 
Government.  An  attempt  was  made  during  Queen  Eliza- 
beth's reign  to  abolish  this  system  of  laws  which  had  been 
established  in  the  country  from  the  earliest  record.  But  the 
Irish  people  disregarded  all  legislation  on  the  subject  and  it 
was  not  until  at  the  beginning  of  the  reign  of  James  I. 
that  they  were  sufficiently  overpowered  by  force  of  arms 
to  enable  the  English  Government  to  establish  its  own 
judges  and  to  abolish  the  Brehon  system. 

So  closely  do  these  laws  enter  into  family  and  individual 
relations,  through  every  walk  of  life,  and  so  clearly  do  they 
provide  for  the  functions  of  all  serving  in  a  public  capacity, 
that  an  accurate  knowledge  can  be  obtained  of  the  manners 
and  customs  of  the  Irish  people  as  they  existed  over  fifteen 
hundred  years  ago.  If  we  had  no  other  source  of  informa- 
tion the  fact  cannot  be  questioned,  with  this  evidence,  that 
the  Irish  people  enjoyed,  in  consequence  of  their  many 
social  virtues,  a  civilization  which  in  many  respects  would 
compare  favorably  with  any  modern  standard.  Moreover, 
it  is  shown  that  the  Irish  were  a  learned,  pious  and  accom- 
plished people  when  England  was,  with  every  country  north 


Antiquity  of  Irish  Civilization  27 

of  Italy,  in  a  state  of  semi-barbarism  and  all  these  countries, 
as  we   shall   show  hereafter,   were    indebted   to  the    Irish 
missionaries    for   their    first    reception   of  Christianity  and 
Christian  civilization. 
Dr.  Hyde  states  '  : 

"  Fourteen  different  books  of  civil  law  are  alluded  to  by  name 
in  the  glosses  on  the  Seanchus,  and  Cormac  in  his  glossary  gives 
quotations  from  five  books.  It  is  remarkable  that  only  one  of 
the  five  quoted  by  Cormac  is  among  the  fourteen  mentioned  in  the 
glosses  on  the  Seanchus  Mor;  and  this  alone  goes  to  show  the 
number  of  books  upon  law  which  have  long  since  perished." 

There  exists  no  reason  to  doubt  the  statement  of  the 
earliest  authorities  that  Ireland  had  commercial  relations 
with  the  Phoenician  merchants,  which  would  antedate  the 
civilization  of  Greece  and  Rome.  Tacitus  states  that  the 
ports  and  harbors  of  Ireland  were  better  known  than  those 
of  Britain  from  the  concourse  of  merchants  there  for  the  pur- 
poses of  commerce.  With  commerce  there  must  have  ex- 
isted some  degree  of  civilization.  This  statement  by  Tacitus 
in  his  Life  of  Agricola,  who  served  on  the  coast  of  Britain  as 
Prefect  in  the  Roman  Army  between  78  and  86  of  the  first 
century,  is  of  importance  in  this  connection,  as  his  reference 
to  Ireland,  except  in  the  accounts  given  by  the  Irish  people 
themselves,  is  the  earliest  historical  mention  of  the  country 
to  which  no  question  can  be  raised. 

Edmund  Spenser,  the  poet,  who  spent  a  large  portion  of 
his  life  in  Ireland,  wrote  in  1596": 

"  The  Irish  are  one  of  the  most  ancient  nations  that  I  know  of 
at  this  end  of  the  world.  .  .  .  And  come  of  as  mighty  a  race 
as  ever  the  worlde  brought  lorth." 

The  Irish  seamen  were  expert  navigators  and  the  proof  as 
to  what  has  long  been  claimed  may  yet  be  forthcoming  from 
the  unexplored  treasures  of  the  Vatican  library,  showing 

'  Literary  History,  p.  590. 

2  View  of  the  State  of  Ireland,  Dublin,  1633,  pp.  26,  32. 


28  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

that  the  Irish  visited  the  American  continent  before  any 
other  people  of  Europe.'  From  the  old  maps  and  charts 
deposited  there,  as  part  of  the  reports  made  by  the  early 
Irish  missionaries  to  show  their  wanderings  over  the  earth, 
it  is  made  evident  that  for  centuries  the  Irish  had  a  more 
accurate  geographical  knowledge  of  the  earth  than  was  pos- 
sessed by  any  other  people  of  the  period.  The  true  shape 
of  the  world  was  recognized  in  Ireland  at  an  early  period 
before  Copernicus  and,  fully  five  hundred  years  before  the 
birth  of  Galileo,  the  solar  system  was  fully  understood  and 
taught  with  an  advanced  knowledge  of  astronomy. 

Hyde,  after  detailing  what  was  accomplished  in  Ireland 
by  St.  Patrick,  states ' : 

"  He,  after  about  twenty  years  of  peripatetic  teaching,  estab- 
lished at  Armagh  about  the  year  450  the  first  Christian  school 
ever  founded  in  Ireland,  the  progenitor  of  that  long  line  of  col- 
leges which  made  Ireland  famous  throughout  Europe,  and  to 
which  two  hundred  years  later,  her  Anglo-Saxon  neighbours 
flocked  in  thousands." 

And  in  a  note: 

"  So  many  English  were  attracted  to  Armagh  in  the  seven- 
teenth century  that  the  city  was  divided  into  three  wards,  or 
thirds,  one  of  which  was  called  the  Saxon  third." 

The  Greek  and  Hebrew  languages  were  regularly  taught 
in  the  Irish  universities  during  the  Middle  Ages,  at  a  time 
when  every  country  of  Europe,  north  of  Italy,  was  yet  in  a 
state  of  barbaric  ignorance—Latin,  of  course,  was  as  fluently 
spoken  as  the  native  Irish  language. 

Hyde  has  written  the  following  in  relation  to  the  Irish 
people ' : 

"  Undisturbed  by  the  Romans,  unconquered  though  shattered 
by  the  Norsemen,  unsubdued  though  sorely  stricken  by  the  Nor- 
mans, and  still  struggling  with  the  Saxons,  the  Irish  Gaul  alone 
has  preserved  a  record  of  his  own  past,  and  preserved  it  in  a 

'  See  History  of  America  before  Columbus,  etc.,  by  P.  de  Roo,  Phila.,  1900. 

'P.  134.  'Pp-  17,  58,  71.  72,  73. 


Accuracy  of  Early  Records  129 

literature  of  his  own,  for  a  length  of  time  and  with  a  continuity 
which  outside  of  Greece  has  no  parallel  in  Europe.  His  own 
account  of  himself  is  that  his  ancestors,  the  Milesians  or  children 
of  Miledh,  came  to  Ireland  from  Spain  about  looo  B.C. 

"  Having  come  to  the  conclusion  that  Irish  topography  is  use- 
less for  proving  the  genuineness  of  past  history,  let  us  look  at 
Irish  genealogy.  .  .  .  When  every  sept  and  name  and  family 
and  clan  in  Ireland  fit  in,  each  in  its  own  place,  with  universally 
mutual  acknowledgement  and  unanimity,  each  man  carefully 
counted  his  ancestors  through  their  hundredfold  ramifications, 
and  tracing  them  back  first  to  him  from  whom  they  got  their  sur- 
name, and  next  to  him  from  whom  they  got  their  tribe  name,  and 
from  thence  to  the  founder  of  their  house,  who  in  his  turn  grafts 
on  to  one  of  the  great  stems  (Eremonian,  Eberian,  Irian  or 
Ithian) ;  and  when  not  only  political  friendships  and  alliances  but 
the  long  holding  of  tribal  lands,  depended  upon  the  strict  regis- 
tration and  observance  of  these  things. 

"  There  are  many  considerations  which  lead  us  to  believe  that 
Irish  genealogical  books  were  kept  from  the  earliest  introduction 
of  the  art  of  writing,  and  kept  with  greater  accuracy,  perhaps,  than 
any  other  records  of  the  past  whatsoever.  The  chiefest  of  these 
is  the  well  known  fact  that,  under  the  tribal  system,  no  one  pos- 
sessed lawfully  any  portion  of  the  soil  inhabited  by  his  tribe  if  he 
were  not  of  the  same  race  with  his  chief.  Consequently  even 
those  of  the  lowest  rank  in  the  tribe  traced  and  recorded  their 
pedigree  with  as  much  care  as  did  the  highest  &c.  .  ,  .  All 
these  genealogies  were  entered  in  the  local  book  of  each  tribe  and 
were  preserved  in  the  verses  of  the  hereditary  poets. 
The  subject  of  tribal  genealogy  upon  which  the  whole  social  fabric 
depended  was  far  too  important  to  be  left  without  a  check  in  the 
hands  of  tribal  historians,  however  well  intended.  And  this  check 
was  offered  by  the  great  convention  or  Feis,  which  took  place 
triennially  at  Tara,  whither  the  historians  had  to  bring  their  books 
that  under  the  scrutiny  of  the  jealous  eyes  of  rivals  they  might  be 
purged  of  whatever  could  not  be  substantiated." 

And  in  support  of  this  Hyde  quotes  from  Keating's 
history  ' : 

'  Hyde,  p.  73.     Keating.     See  under  the  reign  of  Tuatlial  Teachtmhar. 


30  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

"  'And  neither  law  nor  usage  nor  historic  record  was  ever  held 
as  genuine  until  it  had  received  such  approval  and  nothing  that 
disagreed  with  the  roll  of  Tara  could  be  respected  as  truth.' 

"  Through  these  books  the  pedigree  of  nearly  every  individual 
of  each  clan  can  be  traced  to  about  the  second  century  and  many 
beyond  this  period  and  in  no  other  country  can  this  be  done." 

In  continuation  Hyde  writes: 

"  It  has  been  frequently  assumed,  especially  by  English  writers, 
that  the  pre-historic  Irish,  because  of  their  remoteness  from  the 
Continent,  must  have  been  ruder,  wilder  and  more  uncivilized 
than  the  inhabitants  of  Great  Britain.  But  such  an  assumption 
is — to  say  nothing  of  our  literary  remains — in  no  way  borne  out 
by  the  results  of  archaeological  research.  The  contrary  rather 
appears  to  be  the  case,  that  in  point  of  wealth,  artistic  feeling 
and  workmanship,  the  Irish  of  the  Bronze  age  surpassed  the 
inhabitants  of  Great  Britain." 

Dr.  Hyde  quotes  from  M.  Darmesteter  ' : 

"The  Classic  traditions  to  all  appearances  dead  in  Europe, 
burst  out  into  full  flower  in  the  Isle  of  Saints,  and  the  Renaissance 
began  in  Ireland  seven  hundred  years  before  it  was  known  in 
Italy.  During  three  centuries  Ireland  was  the  asylum  of  the 
higher  learning  which  took  sanctuary  there  from  the  uncultivated 
States  in  Europe.  At  one  time  Armagh,  the  religious  capital  of 
Christian  Ireland  was  the  metropolis  of  civilization." 

In  Germany  to-day  the  Irish  language  is  both  spoken  and 
taught  in  many  of  the  universities  and  among  her  learned 
men  there  are  more  scholars  with  a  profound  knowledge  of 
the  early  history  and  literature  of  the  Irish  people  than  ex- 
ist in  any  other  country."  All  do  not,  however,  give  Ire- 
land full  credit,    having   unfortunately  received  their  first 

'  P.  216. 

'  The  fact  is  being  generally  appreciated  that,  in  addition  to  any  other  advan- 
tage, a  knowledge  of  the  Gaelic,  the  elder  sister  branch  from  the  primitive 
language  of  the  Latin  and  Greek,  gives  the  greatest  facility  for  the  acquire- 
ment of  all  other  languages  and  in  this  respect  it  is  unique. 


Irish  Missionaries  in  England  31 

impressions  more  from  English  sources  than  from  their  own 
investigations.  English  writers  have  been  at  least  consistent 
and  from  their  earliest  records  they  have  agreed  to  repre- 
sent the  Irish  people  as  having  been  in  a  state  of  barbarism 
when  they  first  came  in  contact  with  "the  enlightened 
Anglo-Norman  civilization." 

The  truth  of  this  statement  is  shown  by  Hallam  in  his 
noted  work  on  the  Middle  Ages.  With  frequent  evidence 
of  profound  research  on  almost  every  subject,  this  writer 
ignores  the  Irish  people  as  if  they  had  never  existed  and 
claims  overmuch  for  the  "Anglo-Saxons,"  while  he  even 
makes  the  assertion' :  ' '  The  first  Apostles  of  Germany  were 
English,  etc." 

The  true  condition  at  the  time  of  the  invasion  of  Henry 
II,  is  now  so  easy  of  proof,  and  to  the  advantage  of  the 
Irish,  that  it  is  not  necessary  to  consider  the  subject  at 
great  length. 

For  centuries  England  had  no  place  of  learning  outside 
of  the  schools  attached  to  the  monasteries  which  were 
founded  by  the  Irish  missionaries  and  it  is  believed,  if  the 
truth  could  be  established,  that  England's  first  University 
at  Oxford  had  thus  its  origin.'  The  Irish  missionaries  were 
the  first  to  bear  through  Wales  to  England  the  Christian 
belief  in  the  time  of  Ethelbert's  reign  and  they  visited  every 
country  of  northern  Europe,  and  England,  long  before  the 
arrival  in  596  of  St.  Augustine.  Beyond  the  limited  in- 
fluence exerted  by  the  Romans,  England  was  indebted 
directly  or  indirectly  to  the  Irish  people  for  her  first  knowl- 
edge of  civilization  ;  a  poor  return  she  has  ever  made  for  the 
obligation ! 

Prof.    Heinrich   Zimmer,    of    the    University    of   Berlin, 

'  View  of  the  State  of  Europe  during  the  Middle  Ages,  etc.  By  Henry 
Hallam,  etc.,  London,  i860,  vol.  i.,  p.  121, 

''Oxford  University,  it  is  said,  was  founded  in  842  by  Alfred  the  Great  and 
he  doubtless  availed  himself  of  the  learned  Irish  missionaries  from  Armagh, 
Ireland,  who  had  long  before  established  a  noted  monastery  at  Oxford 
which  would  thus  naturally  become  the  nucleus  of  the  University,  as  some  of 
them  had  been  his  own  instructors. 


32  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

a  German  authority  on  the  Irish  language  and  literature, 
commences  his  remarkable  book  with  the  following  quota- 
tion ' : 

"  A  recent  work  *  on  the  Hisiojy  of  Ireland  from  the  Reforma- 
tion up  to  the  Period  of  its  Union  with  England  begins  with  these 
words: 

"  'When  a  semi-barbarous  or  less  cultivated  nation  becomes 
subject  to  one  more  highly  cultivated,  it  generally  receives  as  a 
compensation  for  the  loss  of  its  independence  ail  the  advantages 
and  blessings  naturally  resulting  from  a  higher  degree  of  civiliza- 
tion. But  a  new  condition  of  things  was  produced  in  Ireland 
through  English  rule;  instead  of  arousing  in  the  Irish  mind 
a  love  and  appreciation  of  English  culture  by  the  exercise  of  a 
moderate  and  conciliatory  policy,  calculated  to  lead  up  to  a 
gradual  and  harmonious  blending  of  two  races,  victor  and  van- 
quished, the  English  managed,  through  a  mistaken  and  blunder- 
ing policy,  as  well  as  by  intentional  oppression  and  persecution, 
to  bring  about  such  a  condition  of  affairs  in  Ireland  that,  in  the 
first  place,  the  social  status  of  the  Celtic  race  sank  lower  and 
lower,  while,  on  the  other  hand,  the  tender  germ  of  native  culture 
was  nipped  in  the  bud,  or  failed  of  proper  development  from 
want  of  nourishment,  and  degenerated  in  quality.' 

"  These  words  explain  the  prevailing  views  of  the  present  so- 
called  cultivated  circles  of  England;  they  hold  that  at  the  time 
of  the  claimed  conquest  of  Ireland  (1171),  the  former  was,  ac- 
cording to  the  ideas  of  the  time,  a  half  savage  country  in  its  rela- 
tion to  and  compared  with  its  conquerors  in  point  of  culture, 
and  that  its  people  obstinately  set  themselves  in  opposition  to 
the  blessings  and  advantages  brought  them  by  their  highly  civilized 
riders.  (?)  Hence  the  hardest  and  cruellest  measures  laid 
upon  Ireland  and  its  people  during  the  ages  of  English  domina- 
tion receive  a  sort  of  extenuation  or  justification.  But  the  very 
fact  that  such  views  as  these  are  entertained  by  England,  weighs 
more  heavily  upon  Ireland  to-day  than  all  her  political  and  social 
ills;  she  rebels  because  England,  not  satisfied  with  stripping  her 

'  The  Irish  Element  in  Mediceval  Culture,  by  H.  Zimmer,  translated  by  Jane 
Loring  Edmonds,  G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons,  New  York,  etc.,  1891,  pp.  1-4,  14, 
15,  130.  ^  By  Dr.  Hassenkamp,  Leipsic. 


Irish  Hospitality  to  Foreign  Students     33 

of  every  present  benefit,  would  even  rob  her  of  the  consolation 
in  her  existing  wretchedness,  to  be  derived  from  looking  back 
with  pride  over  a  glorious  past.  Ireland  can  indeed  lay  claim  to 
a  great  past;  she  can  not  only  boast  of  having  been  the  birth 
place  and  abode  of  high  culture  in  the  fifth  and  sixth  centuries, 
at  a  time  when  the  Roman  Empire  was  being  undermined  by  the 
alliances  and  inroads  of  German  tribes,  which  threatened  to  sink 
the  whole  continent  into  barbarism,  but  also  of  having  made 
strenuous  efforts  in  the  seventh  and  up  to  the  tenth  century 
to  spread  her  learning  among  the  German  and  Roman  peoples, 
thus  forming  the  actual  foundation  of  our  present  Continental  civiliz- 
ation.'" 

Zimmer  has  written  in  reference  to  these  early  Irish  mis- 
sionaries : 

"  They  were  iftstructors  in  every  known  branch  of  science  and 
learning  of  the  time.,  possessors  and  bearers  of  a  higher  culture  than 
was  at  that  period  to  be  found  anytvhere  on  the  Continent  and  can 
surely  claim  to  have  been  the  piotieers., — to  have  laid  the  corner-stone 
of  Western  culture  on  the  Continent.,  the  rich  results  of  which  Ger- 
many shares  and  enjoys  to-day,  in  common  with  all  other  civilized 
nations. 

"Considering  the  attitude  of  the  Irish  monks  in  the  seventh 
century  toward  the  Anglo-Saxon  and  Franks,  it  is  quite  easy  to 
comprehend  in  what  way  and  how  earnest  was  the  desire  for 
knowledge  awakened  in  their  converts,  and  why  it  became  a  ne- 
cessity for  these  to  group  themselves  around  their  revered  in- 
structors and  to  follow  in  their  lead.  Thereupon  Anglo-Saxons 
flocked  to  Ireland  in  large  numbers  to  complete  their  education, 
both  religious  and  classical,  in  Irish  monasteries.  Many  such 
instances  are  quoted  by  Bede.'  He  informs  us  that  in  654,  many 
nobles  among  the  Angles  went  to  Ireland  to  pursue  theological 
studies  and  were  warmly  welcomed  by  the  Irish  who  furnished 
them  with  board,  instruction,  and  even  the  necessary  manuscripts 
quite  free  of  expense.  .  .  .  But  the  most  eloquent  testimony 
to  Ireland's  fame  as  a  seat  of  learning  in  the  seventh  century  is 
furnished  us  by  the  Anglo-Saxon  Aldhelm." 

^  Bede's  History  of  the  Anglo-Saxons,  Bohn  edition, 
VOL.  I.  — 3. 


34  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

Professor  Zimmer,  in  a  note,  quotes  what  Dr.  Reeves 
says  of  Ireland  ' : 

"  We  must  deplore  the  merciless  rule  of  barbarism  "  (English) 
"  in  this  country,  whence  was  swept  away  all  domestic  evidence 
of  advanced  learning,  leaving  scarcely  anything  at  home  but 
legendary  lore,  and  which  has  compelled  us  to  draw  from  foreign 
depositories  the  materials  on  which  to  rest  the  proof  that  Ireland 
of  old  was  really  entitled  to  that  literary  eminence  which  national 
feeling  lays  claim  to.  Our  real  knowledge  of  the  crowds  of  Irish 
teachers  and  scribes  who  migrated  to  the  continent  and  became 
founders  of  many  monasteries,  is  derived  from  foreign  chronicles, 
and  their  testimony  is  borne  out  by  the  evidence  of  the  numerous 
Irish  MSS.  and  other  relics  of  the  eighth  to  the  tenth  century, 
occurring  in  the  libraries  throughout  Europe." 

The  Rev.  D.  Lynch,  S.J.,  tells  us  in  his  article  on  "The 
Celtic  Renascence  "  " : 

"The  obscuring  of  Celtic  influence  in  European  civilization 
and  in  particular  of  Celtic  literary  influence  is  one  of  the  riddles 
of  history.  Perhaps  it  was  a  part  of  the  destiny  of  this  strange 
race,  the  oldest  and  most  remarkable  in  Europe,  and  who  seems 
called  to  play  yet  an  important  part  in  human  society,  that  they 
should  have  been  hidden  so  long  in  the  busy  world's  outer  rim. 
.  And  even  the  Herculean  labours  of  the  Irish  missionaries 
when  Europe  was  barbaric  were  forgotten.  ...  As  for  the 
Scots,  they  were  Irish,  one  and  all,  as  their  name  shows,  no- 
thing being  clearer  in  history  than  their  migrations,  in  the  fifth 
and  subsequent  centuries,  from  the  motherland  then  called  Scotia. 
It  was  the  appointed  mission  of  the  Irish  monks  at  the 
dawn  of  European  civilization  to  bridge  over  the  abyss  between 
the  diseased  and  decrepit  pagan  empire  of  Rome  and  the  bar- 
baric tribes  of  the  north  and  to  give  the  latter  a  civilization  which 
the  dying  Romans  were  incapable  of  giving;  so  it  seems  to  be  the 
vocation  of  the  missionary  Irish  race — for  as  a  race  they,  and  they 
alone,  are  to-day  missionary — to  resist  the  more  subtle  inroads  of 
neopaganism. 

^  Adamnan.     By  William  Reeves,  D.D.,  Dublin,  1857. 

'  The  Messenger  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  magazine,  New  York,  1901. 


Irish  Missionaries  Civilize  Europe         35 

"  The  fact  is  well  established  that  the  name  of  Scotland  was 
not  used  or  applied  to  any  portion  of  North  Britain  until  the 
twelfth  century.  Yet  from  ignorance  as  well  as  from  the  existing 
prejudice  of  many  against  the  Irish  people,  the  credit  due  their 
missionaries  has  been  attributed  to  the  Scotch." 

On  this  fact  Professor  Zimmer  writes : 

*'  The  Scots  mentioned  in  the  Middle  Ages  are  synonymous 
with  the  Celtic  population  of  Ireland  and  were  not  to  be  distin- 
guished from  that  people  that  early  wandered  through  the  northern 
part  of  Britain  and  settled  in  the  Highlands.' 

On  the  same  page  he  quotes  from  Stokes  ^ : 

"  Wherever,  in  the  first  three  centuries,  the  term  Scot  occurs  it 
always  means  Irishmen.  During  the  first  seven  centuries  the 
Picts  were  the  inhabitants  of  modern  Scotland.  It  was  not  until 
the  eleventh  or  twelfth  century  that  the  term  Scotland  or  Scotia 
was  applied  in  its  modern  sense." 

Zimmer  also  gives  the  following: 

"The  author  of  Early  Christian  Art  in  Ireland  thus  quotes 
from  Reeves'  Ada7tman  : 

"  '  The  early  Christian  art  of  Ireland  may  well  be  termed  Scotic 
as  well  as  Irish,  just  as  the  first  missionaries  from  Ireland  to  the 
Continent  were  termed  Scots,  Ireland  having  borne  the  name  of 
Scotia  for  many  centuries  before  it  was  transferred  to  North 
Britain,  and  foreign  chronicles  of  the  ninth  century  speak  of 
'  Hibernia,  Island  of  the  Scots '  when  referring  to  events  in  Ireland 
regarding  which  corresponding  entries  are  found  in  the  annals  of 
that  country.'  " 

Zimmer  continues  to  quote: 

"The  manuscripts  which  remain  in  Italy  as  evidence  of  the 
labors  of  the  Irish  monks  in  that  country,  are  to  be  seen  in  the 
Ambrosian  Library  in  Milan,  in  the  University  Library  of  Turin 

^  Ireland  and  the  Celtic  Church,  etc.,  by  Rev.  G.  T.  Stokes,  London,  1886. 


36  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

and  in  the  Real  Biblioteca  Borbonica,  Naples.  All  these  manu- 
scripts are  said  to  have  been  brought  originally  from  Bobio,  a 
monastery  in  Piedmont,  founded  by  Columbanusin  the  year  613." 

John  O'Hart  also  points  out  where  a  gre'at  portion  of  the 
Irish  MSS.  are  to  be  found  ' : 

' '  There  are  still  existing  vast  collections  of  ancient  and  valua- 
ble Irish  MSS.  in  various  libraries  in  Ireland;  as  those  of  Trinity 
College,  Dublin,  and  the  Royal  Irish  Academy;  also  in  many 
private  libraries.  In  various  libraries  in  England  there  are  great 
collections  of  Irish  MSS. ;  as  in  those  of  the  Bodleian  Library,  at 
Oxford;  of  the  British  Museum  and  of  Lambert  in  London;  and 
in  the  library  of  the  Duke  of  Buckingham  at  Stowe,  there  is  an 
immense  and  most  valuable  collection. 

"  In  the  libraries  of  the  Continent  there  are  also  collections  of 
Irish  MSS. ;  particularly  at  Rome,  Paris  and  Louvain  and  in  the 
libraries  of  Spain  and  Portugal;  and  it  is  said  that  there  are  Irish 
MSS.  in  the  Royal  Library  at  Copenhagen,  which  were  carried  off 
by  the  Danes  from  Ireland,  in  the  tenth  and  eleventh  centuries. 
A  vast  number  of  Irish  MSS.  were  destroyed,  particularly  during 
the  wars  in  Ireland  by  Queen  Elizabeth  and  Cromwell.  Webb 
says  ^:  'It  was  'till  the  time  of  King  James  the  First,  the  object  of 
government  to  discover  and  destroy  all  remains  of  the  literature 
of  the  Irish,  in  order  the  more  fully  to  eradicate  from  their  minds 
every  trace  of  their  ancient  independence.  .  .  .  This  no 
doubt,  is  why  some  of  the  Irish  pedigrees  are  not  now  forth- 
coming." 

The  remains  of  Irish  literature  that  escaped  the  destroying 
hand  of  Dane,  Norman  and  Saxon,  and  the  action  of  time 
are  of  truly  gigantic  proportions.  Over  six  hundred  thou- 
sand quarto  pages  of  ancient  Irish  manuscripts,  the  writer 
has  seen  stated,  are  to  be  found  in  the  libraries  of  the  Royal 
Irish  Academy  and  Trinity  College,  Dublin,  alone. 

The  Irish  people  from  the  earliest  period  were  noted  as 

'  Irish  Pedigrees,  or  the  Original  Stem  of  the  Irish  Nation,  Dublin,  1892, 
vol.  ii.,  p.  9. 

"^Analysis  of  the  History  and  Antiquities  of  Ireland,  etc.,  by  Wm.  Webb, 
Dublin,  1791. 


Early  Literature  Preserved  37 

a  musical  people  and  in  every  place  of  learning  music  was 
taught  with  the  regular  literary  curriculum.  As  a  people 
they  also  cultivated  athletic  sports  with  as  much  zeal  as  the 
ancient  Greeks  and  several  times  a  year  tournaments  during 
many  centuries  were  held  in  different  parts  of  the  country, 
where  the  local  experts  met  and  took  part  in  the  national 
contests.  Among  these  contests  the  game  of  chess  always 
occupied  a  prominent  part  and  it  may  be  claimed  to  have 
been  from  an  early  time  a  national  game. 

These  tournaments  were  held  year  after  year,  until  finally 
the  assemblage  of  the  people  was  prevented  by  the  English 
authorities.  This  was  done  with  the  object  of  destroying 
all  national  feeling,  as  for  the  same  purpose  their  seats  of 
learning  were  closed. 

MacGeoghegan  '  gives  an  abstract  from  the  will  of  Cathire 
More,  King  of  Leinster,  which  was  written  144  A.D.  Among 
many  bequests : 

"He  left  to  Tuathal-Tigech,  son  of  Main  his  brother,  ten 
chariots  drawn  by  horses;  five  play  tables;  five  chess  boards  &c. 
To  Crimothan  he  bequeathed  fifty  billiard  balls  of 
brass,  with  pools  and  cues  of  the  same  material;  ten  tric-tracs  of 
exquisite  workmanship ;  twelve  chess  boards  with  chessmen,  &c. 
.  .  .  To  Mogcorf,  son  of  Laogare  Birnbuadhach,  he  left  a 
hundred  cows  spotted  with  white  with  their  calves,  coupled  to- 
gether with  yokes  of  brass;  a  hundred  bucklers;  a  hundred  red 
javelins;  a  hundred  brilliant  lances;  fifty  saffron-colored  great- 
coats; a  hundred  different  colored  horses;  a  hundred  drinking- 
cups  curiously  wrought;  a  hundred  barrels  made  of  yew  tree; 
fifty  chariots  of  exquisite  workmanship;  fifty  chess-boards;  fifty 
tables  used  by  wrestlers;  &c." 

There  is  nothing  to  show  that  King  Cathire  More  did  not 
possess  a  larger  collection  but  to  have  been  the  owner  of  at 
least  sixty-seven  chess-boards  would  indicate  that  that  game 
was  a  popular  one  among  his  guests.  The  supposition  that 
the  game  was  popular  among  all  classes  is  supported  by 

'  The  History  of  Ireland,  etc.,  by  the  Abbe  MacGeoghegan,  New  York, 
edition  1896,  p.  90. 


38  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

the  fact  of  the  frequent  turning  up  of  metal  and  bone 
chessmen  in  Ireland  by  the  ploughshare,  particularly  in  the 
neighborhood  of  places  where  it  is  known  military  encamp- 
ments had  been  held. 

With  the  development  of  music  in  advance  of  any  other 
people  of  the  time,  and  from  the  fondness  of  the  Irish  for 
the  game  of  chess,  it  seems  evident,  if  we  had  no  other 
proof,  that  they  had  made  at  an  early  period  a  greater  ad- 
vance in  civilization  than  their  neighbors. 

Wherever  the  Irish  missionaries  went,  in  England  and 
over  Europe,  down  the  valley  of  the  Danube  and  the 
northern  portion  of  Italy,  they  developed  with  the  first 
teaching  of  Christianity  a  taste  for  music  and  doubtless  a 
knowledge  of  chess.  The  earliest  church  music  written  on 
vellum  by  these  Irish  missionaries  can  be  easily  recognized 
by  the  large  square  notes  which  they  used  and,  from  the 
frequent  representation  about  the  illuminated  initial  letters 
of  the  people  singing  together,  we  must  suppose  that  the 
custom  which  exists  in  Germany  and  other  countries  of  con- 
gregational singing  and  general  taste  for  music  was  first 
introduced  by  these  missionaries  and  has  continued  to  the 
present  time. 

It  is  a  curious  circumstance  that  the  first  book  printed  in 
England  at  Westminster  Abbey  by  Caxton  in  1474  and 
under  church  influence  should  have  been  The  Game  and 
Playe  of  the  Chesse.  Introduced  as  the  game  doubtless  was 
by  the  Irish  missionaries  into  England,  it  might  be  asked 
if  a  taste  for  the  game  had  been  thus  kept  alive  by  the  clergy 
for  over  nine  hundred  years  and  was  the  selection  made  by 
churchmen,  who  directed  the  printing  and  among  whom  the 
Irish  influence  in  England  had,  through  their  teachers  or 
learned  men,  been  maintained  even  to  so  late  a  period? 

As  a  resume  of  the  subject  we  quote  the  views  of  a  well- 
known  German  scholar  at  second  hand,  from  a  brochure  by 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Strang  ' : 

'  Germany's  Debt  to  Ireland,  by  Rev.  Wm.  Strang,  D.D.,  New  York,  1889, 
p.  5. 


Debt  of  Europe  to  Ireland  39 

"We  recall  the  classic  words  of  Dr.  Doellinger  regarding  the 
period  in  which  Ireland  sent  her  heroic  sons  to  evangelize  the 
Pagan  Nations  of  the  Continent :  '  During  the  sixth  and  seventh 
centuries  the  church  of  Ireland  stood  in  the  full  beauty  of  its 
bloom.  The  spirit  of  the  Gospel  operated  amongst  the  people 
with  a  vigorous  and  vivifying  power;  troops  of  holy  men,  from 
the  highest  to  the  lowest  ranks  of  society,  obeyed  the  counsel  of 
Christ,  and  forsook  all  things,  that  they  might  follow  Him. 

"  '  There  was  not  a  country  of  the  world,  during  the  period, 
which  could  boast  of  pious  foundations  or  of  religious  communi- 
ties equal  to  those  that  adorned  this  far  distant  Island.  Among 
the  Irish,  the  doctrines  of  the  Christian  religion  were  preserved 
pure  and  entire,  the  names  of  heresy  or  of  schism  were  not 
known  to  them.  And  in  the  Bishop  of  Rome  they  acknowledged 
and  venerated  the  Supreme  Head  of  the  Church  on  earth,  and 
continued  with  him,  and  through  him  with  the  whole  Church,  in  a 
never  interrupted  communion.  The  schools  in  the  Irish  cloisters 
were  at  this  time  the  most  celebrated  in  all  the  West.  Whilst 
almost  the  whole  of  Europe  was  desolated  by  war,  peaceful  Ire- 
land, free  from  the  invasions  of  external  foes,  opened  to  the  lovers 
of  learning  and  piety  a  welcome  asylum.  The  strangers,  who 
visited  the  Island,  not  only  from  the  neighboring  shores  of  Britain, 
but  also  from  the  most  remote  nations  of  the  Continent,  receiving 
from  the  Irish  people  the  most  hospitable  reception,  gratuitous 
entertainment,  free  instruction,  and  even  the  books  that  were 
necessary  for  their  studies.  Thus  in  the  year  536,  in  the  time  of 
St.  Senanus,  there  arrived  at  Cork,  from  the  Continent,  fifteen 
monks,  who  were  led  thither  by  their  desire  to  perfect  themselves 
in  the  practices  of  an  ascetic  life  under  Irish  directors,  and  to 
study  the  Sacred  Scriptures  in  the  school  established  near  that 
city.  At  a  later  period,  after  the  year  650,  the  Anglo-Saxons,  in 
particular,  passed  over  to  Ireland  in  great  numbers  for  the  same 
laudable  purposes.  On  the  other  hand,  many  holy  and  learned 
Irishmen  left  their  own  country  to  proclaim  the  faith,  to  establish 
or  to  reform  monasteries  in  distant  lands,  and  thus  to  become  the 
benefactors  of  almost  every  nation  in  Europe.'  " 

Dr.  Strang  states  ' : 

'  Germany's  Debt,  etc.,  note,  p.  8. 


40  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

"  The  Irish  not  only  penetrated  the  inhospitable  and  unculti- 
vated parts  of  the  Continent,  we  find  them  even  on  the  shores  of 
America  as  early  as  the  eighth  century.  Grave  historians  admit 
that  the  Irish  discovered  America  seven  hundred  years  before 
Christopher  Columbus  colonized  that  portion  of  America  now 
known  as  North  and  South  Carolina,  Georgia  and  East  Florida. 
Gndlief  Gndlaugsan,  a  Norse  navigator,  who  landed  here" 
(North  America)  "in  the  beginning  of  the  eleventh  century, 
found  the  people  speaking  Irish,  and  in  the  Sagas  the  country  is 
called  '  Ireland-it  Mikla,'  that  is  Great  Ireland." 

The  necessity  for  the  preservation  of  the  Irish  language 
and  to  cite  its  past  glory  cannot  be  given  in  more  patriotic 
terms  than  by  the  following : 

"  THE   CELTIC    TONGUE.' 

"  Ay,  build  ye  up  the  Celtic  tongue  above  O' Curry's  grave; 
Speed  the  good  work,  ye  patriot  souls  who  long  your  land  to 

save, 
Who  long  to  light  the  flame  again  on  Freedom's  altar  dead, 
Who  long  to  call  the  glories  back  from  hapless  Erin  fled, 
Who  long  to  gem  her  sadden'd  brow  with  queenly  wreath  again. 
And  raise  a  warrior  people  up,  a  Nation  in  her  train. 
Speed  then  the  work;  be  scorn  our  lot,  our  ancient  pride  is 

flown. 
If  midst  the  nations  on  the  earth  we  stand  in  shame  alone. 

"  The  Celtic  Tongue!     The  Celtic   Tongue!     Why  should  its 

voice  be  still, 
When  all  its  magic  tones  with  old  and  golden  glories  thrill — 
When,  like  an  aged  bard,  it  sings  departed  warrior's  might — 
When  it  was  heard  in  Kingly  halls  where  throng' d  the  brave  and 

bright — 
When  oft  its  glowing  tales  of  war  made  dauntless  hearts  beat 

high— 
When  oft  its  tales  of  hapless  love  drew  tears  from  beauty's  eye? 

'  Portion  of  poem  printed  in  The  Nation,  Dublin,  Nov.  i,  1862,  by  an  un- 
known autiior. 


The  Celtic  Tongue  41 

"  Grand  tongue  of  heroes!     How  its  tones  upon  the  gale  uprose, 
When  great  Cuchullin's  Red  Branch  Knights  rushed  down  upon 

their  foes; 
And  how  its  accents  fired  the  brave  to  struggle  for  their  rights, 
When  from  thy  lips  they  burst  in  flames,  Con  of  the  Hundred 

Fights ! 
Or  when  the  breeze  its  war-cries  bore  across  that  gory  plain, 
Where  royal  Brian  cheered  his  hosts  to  battle  with  the  Dane. 
Oh,  who  may  fire  our  sluggish  hearts  like  them  to  dare  and  do? 
When  shall  we  see  thy  like  again,  O  hero-soul'd  Boru? 

*'  Sweet  tongue  of  bards!     How  swelled  its  tones  in  lofty  flights 

of  song. 
When  white-robed  minstrels  deftly  swept  the  sounding  chords 

along ! 
When  Oisin  touch 'd  the  trembling  strings  to  hymn  the  Fenian 

name. 
When  thrill 'd  thy  lyre,  fond  Fionbell,  with  gallant  Osgar's  fame. 
Alike  't  would  tell  of  ladye-love  and  chief  of  princely  line — 
Fair  Aileen  now  the  poets  sung,  and  now  the  Geraldine. 
'T  was  music's  self — that  barded  tongue,  till  iron  days  began, 
Then  swell'd  its  swan-like  strains,  and  died  with  thee,0'Carolan ! 

*'  In  dulcet  tones  the  wide  world  o'er  though  gifted  bards  have 
sung. 
Yet  sweeter  sounds  thy  minstrelsy,  soul-soothing  Celtic  Tongue. 

"  The  Celtic  Tongue!     The  Celtic  Tongue!     No  more  in  bower 

and  hall 
Where  Rank  holds  sway  or  Beauty  reigns,  its  liquid  accents  fall. 
Far  from  the  courts  of  Pride  and  Power,  within  the  lowly  cot 
It  finds  a  home — that  outlaw' d  tongue — the  poor  despise  it  not. 
But  still  upon  the  mountain  heath,  or  in  the  moonlit  vale, 
In  that  sweet  speech  the  shepherd  sings,  the  lover  breathes  his 

tale, 
And  oft  times  in  the  rustic  church  the  Soggarth  knows  its  might 
To  lead  the  wretch  from  shades  of  vice  to  virtue's  path  of  light. 
Oh,  on  the  sinner's  harden'd  heart  it  falls  as  dew  from  Heaven, 
The  softened  soul  dissolves  in  tears — he  weeps,  and  is  forgiven. 


42  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

"  Thus  lurks  amid  the  simple  poor,  forgotten  and  unknown, 
That  ancient  tongue,  that  royal  tongue,  so  prized  in  ages  flown, 
Which  came  to  make  our  isle  its  home  from  lands  'neath  Orient 

skies, 
Which  saw  the  wondrous  pillar-shrines  in  graceful  grandeur 

rise — 
Which  echoed  in  its  days  of  pride  within  Emania's  walls, 
Through  high  Kincora's  princely  courts,  through  Tara's  regal 

halls,  * 

Which  swelled  in  holy  song  to  Heaven  upon  the  morning  air — 
When  from  the  Sacred  Groves  went  up  the  Druid's  voice  of 

prayer. 
And  oft,  in  brighter  Christian  days,  it  rose  in  holier  strain 
From  Glendalough's  calm  Eden  shades,  from  Innisfallen's  fane. 
It  breathed  in  vesper  orison,  when  evening's  shadows  fell, 
From  city  shrines,  from  abbey  piles,  from  hermit's  lonely  cell. 
It  sped  in  winged  accents  forth,  from  dawn  to  day's  last  smile, 
From  lips  of  sages,  saints,  and  kings,  throughout  our  sacred  Isle. 
Ere  Grecian  fame,  ere  Latin  name,  from  infant  state  had  sprung, 
In  manhood's  strength  that  language  stood,  the  mighty  Celtic 

Tongue! 

'*  The  Celtic  Tongue! — Then  must  it  die?     Say,  shall  our  lan- 
guage go? 
No!     By  Ulfadha's  kingly  soul!     By  sainted  Laurence,  no! 
No!     By  the  shades  of  saints  and  chiefs,  of  holy  name  and  high, 
Whose  deeds,  as  they  have  lived  with  it,  must  die  when  it  shall 

die — 
No !     By  the  memories  of  the  Past  that  round  our  ruin  twine — 
No!     By  our  evening  hope  of  suns  in  coming  days  to  shine. 
It  shall  not  go — it  must  not  die — the  language  of  our  sires; 
While  Erin's  glory  glads  our  souls  or  freedom's  name  inspires, 
That  lingering  ray  from  stars  gone  down — oh,  let  its  light  re- 
main! 
That  last  bright  link  with  splendours  flown — oh,  snap  it  not  in 
twain!  " 

Before  bringing  this  subject  to  a  close  no  better  example, 
to  show  the  ignorance  of  the  average  English  writer  in  re- 


Irish  Civilization  and  English  Barbarism    43 

lation  to  Irish  history,  can  be  cited  than  the  well-known 
statement  of  Froude  as  to  the  condition  of  Ireland  at  the 
time  the  Normans  gained  their  first  foothold  in  that  country. 
So  accessible  is  the  material  now,  within  reach  of  the  most 
superficial  investigation,  that  it  must  be  assumed  Mr.  Froude 
was  either  voluntarily  ignorant  or  that  he  perverted  facts 
for  a  special  purpose. 
He  wrote : 

"The  Irish,  when  the  Normans  took  charge  of  them,  were, 
with  the  exception  of  the  Clergy,  scarcely  better  that  a  mob  of 
armed  savages;  the  only  occupation  considered  honorable  was 
fighting  and  plunder;  their  religion  had  degenerated  into  a  super- 
stition, and  no  longer  served  as  a  check  upon  the  most  ferocious 
passions.  Their  chief  characteristics  were  treachery,  thirst  for 
blood,  unbridled  licentiousness,  and  inveterate  detestation  of 
order  and  rule ;  as  a  nation  they  have  done  nothing  which  posterity 
will  not  be  anxious  to  forget." 

A  cotemporary  English  writer  and  historic  student,  the 
Hon.  Colin  Lindsey,  a  brother  of  William,  Earl  of  Crawford 
and  Balcares,  of  Scotland,  has  written  the  following  as  the 
result  of  his  investigations  ' : 

' '  Before  England  was  born  into  the  family  of  nations,  Ireland 
was  an  autonomy  recognized  as  such  by  contemporary  races. 
When  Albion  was  inhabited  by  a  barbarous  and  savage  people, 
Ireland  was  in  the  height  of  prosperity.  When  the  Anglo-Saxons 
were  tearing  each  other  to  pieces,  Ireland  was  possessed  of  a 
settled  government,  and  was  administered  by  wise  laws,  so  ancient 
that  no  one  knows  precisely  the  period  of  their  first  promulgation. 
When  this  country  (England)  was  remarkable  for  its  ignorance 
and  brutality,  Ireland  was  celebrated  for  her  culture  and  civiliza- 
tion. When  St.  Augustine  was  preaching  to  the  heathen,  when 
Ethelbert  was  receiving  baptism,  when  Alfred  was  a  wanderer, 
Ireland  was  sending  forth  her  missionaries  all  over  the  world, 
spreading  everywhere  the  Gospel  and  civilization.  When  the 
foundations  of  the  Universities  of  Cambridge  and  Oxford  were 
'  De  Ecclesia  et  Cathedra,  etc.,  London,  1887. 


44  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

laid,  the  colleges  of  Ireland  had  long  been  flourishing  seats  of 
learning,  imparting  to  all  who  came  to  her  schools,  knowledge 
and  truth.  Ireland  can  assert  what  no  other  existing  Kmgdora 
or  State  can  say,  that  her  history  is  lost  in  the  mazes  of  antiquity, 
and  that  her  era  of  barbarism  belongs  to  pre-historic  times." 


CHAPTER   II 

THE   ALLEGED    PAPAL   BULL  TO   HENRY  II. 

At  the  beginning  of  an  investigation  relating  to  England's 
first  connection  with  Ireland,  we  are  confronted  with  the 
evidence  that  her  claim  of  sovereignty  and  right  to  associate 
herself  in  any  manner  with  the  affairs  of  the  Irish  people 
was  based  upon  falsehood  and  probable  forgery. 

England's  only  title  to  Irish  territory  rests  upon  a  grant 
claimed  to  have  been  given  to  Henry  II.  by  Pope  Adrian 
IV.,  under  pretext  of  improving  the  religious  status  in  the 
latter  country. 

The  literature  on  this  subject  is  voluminous  and  cannot 
be  condensed  into  reasonable  limits,  if  an  attempt  be  made 
to  show  that  this  claimed  Papal  Bull  was  a  forgery. 

The  Abbe  MacGeoghegan,  driven  out  of  Ireland  as  a 
youth,  became  a  prominent  ecclesiastic  in  Paris  where, 
among  other  duties,  he  served  as  chaplain  to  the  famous 
Irish  brigade  in  the  service  of  the  French  Government. 

Early  in  the  eighteenth  century  this  clergyman  wrote 
a  history  of  Ireland,  which  was  based  upon  an  intimate 
knowledge  of  the  subject.  And  to  fit  him  the  better  for 
the  work  he  evidently  made  extensive  research  to  elucidate 
many  obscure  points  to  which  suflficient  attention  by  others 
had  not  been  previously  given.  The  Abbe  seems  to  have 
realized  that  England's  title  should  be  established  beyond 
question,  since  the  right  to  hold  is  necessary  to  justify  pos- 
session. The  writer  has  found  no  other  author  who  in- 
vestigated this  subject  to  the  same  extent  nor  any  one  else 

45 


46  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

who  has  given  his  views  in  a  more  condensed  form.     Until 
the  comparatively  recent  publication  of  the  translation  of 
this  work  from  the  French,  it  was  little  known  as  an  authority 
to  the  English  reader. 
He  writes  ' : 

"It  is  said  that  in  this  reign,  in  the  year  1155,  Pope  Adrian 
IV.  issued  the  celebrated  bull,  by  which  this  pontiff  transferred 
the  sovereignty  of  Ireland  to  Henry  the  Second,  King  of  Eng- 
land. The  tenor  of  it  is  here  given,  in  order  that  an  opinion  may 
be  formed  of  it. 

"  '  Adrian,  bishop  and  servant  of  the  servants  of  God,  to  his 
most  dear  son  in  Christ,  the  illustrious  King  of  England,  greeting 
health  and  apostolical  benediction. 

"  '  Thy  greatness,  as  is  becoming  a  Catholic  prince,  is  laudable 
and  successfully  employed  in  thought  and  intention,  to  propagate 
a  glorious  name  upon  earth,  and  lay  by  in  heaven  the  rewards  of 
a  happy  eternity,  by  extending  the  boundaries  of  the  church,  and 
making  known  to  nations  which  are  uninstructed,  and  still  igno- 
rant of  the  Christian  faith,  its  truth  and  doctrine,  by  rooting  up 
the  seeds  of  vice  from  the  land  of  the  Lord;  and  to  perform  this 
more  efficaciously,  thou  seekest  the  counsel  and  protection  of  the 
apostolical  see,  in  which  undertaking,  the  more  exalted  thy  designs 
will  be,  united  with  prudence,  the  more  propitious,  we  trust,  will 
be  thy  progress  under  a  benign  Providence,  since  a  happy  issue 
and  end  are  always  the  result  of  what  has  been  undertaken  from 
an  ardor  of  faith,  and  love  of  religion. 

"  '  It  is  not,  indeed,  to  be  doubted,  that  the  Kingdom  of  Ire- 
land, and  every  island  upon  which  Christ  the  Sun  of  Justice  hath 
shone,  and  which  has  received  the  principles  of  the  Christian 
faith,  belong  of  right  to  St.  Peter,  and  to  the  holy  Roman  Church, 
(which  thy  majesty  likewise  admits,)  from  whence  we  the  more 
fully  implant  in  them  the  seed  of  faith,  that  seed  which  is  accept- 
able to  God,  and  to  which  we,  after  a  minute  investigation,  con- 
sider that  a  conformity  should  be  required  by  us  the  more  rigidly. 
Thou,  dearest  son  in  Christ,  hast  likewise  signified  to  us,  that 
for  the  purpose  of  subjecting  the  people  of  Ireland  to  laws,  and 
eradicating  vice  from  among  them,  thou  art  desirous  of  entering 
'  MacGeoghegan,  etc.,  p.  246. 


Was  the  Bull  of  Pope  Adrian  Genuine    47 

that  island ;  and  also  of  paying  for  each  house  an  annual  tribute 
of  one  penny  to  St.  Peter;  and  of  preserving  the  privileges  of  its 
churches  pure  and  undefiled.  We,  therefore,  with  approving  and 
favorable  views  commend  thy  pious  and  laudable  desire,  and  to 
aid  thy  undertaking,  we  give  to  thy  petition  our  grateful  and  will- 
ing consent,  that  for  the  extending  the  boundaries  of  the  church, 
the  restraining  the  prevalence  of  vice,  the  improvement  of  morals, 
the  implanting  of  virtue,  and  propagation  of  the  Christian  religion, 
thou  enter  that  island,  and  pursue  those  things  which  shall  tend 
to  the  honor  of  God,  and  salvation  of  His  people,  and  that  they 
may  receive  thee  with  honor,  and  revere  thee  as  their  lord ;  the 
privilege  of  their  churches  continuing  pure  and  unrestrained,  and 
the  annual  tribute  of  one  penny  from  each  house  remaining  secure 
to  St.  Peter,  and  the  Holy  Roman  Church.  If  thou  therefore 
deem  what  thou  hast  projected  in  mind,  possible  to  be  completed, 
study  to  instill  good  morals  into  that  people,  and  act  so  that  thou 
thyself,  and  such  persons  as  thou  judge  competent  from  their 
faith,  words  and  actions  to  be  instrumental  in  advancing  the 
honor  of  the  Irish  Church,  propagate  and  promote  religion  and 
the  faith  of  Christ,  to  advance  thereby  the  honor  of  God,  and 
salvation  of  souls,  that  thou  mayest  merit  an  everlasting  reward 
of  happiness  hereafter,  and  establish  on  earth  a  name  of  glory, 
which  shall  last  for  ages  to  come.     Given  at  Rome,  &c.  &c.  &c.' 

"  The  above  was  an  edict  pronounced  against  Ireland,  by 
which  the  rights  of  men  and  the  most  sacred  laws  are  violated, 
under  the  specious  pretext  of  religion  and  the  reformation  of 
morals.'  The  Irish  were  no  longer  to  possess  a  country.  That 
people,  who  had  never  bent  under  a  foreign  yoke,  '  nunquam  ex- 
ternae  subjacuit  ditioni, '  were  condemned  to  lose  their  liberty, 
without  even  being  heard. ^  But  can  the  Vicar  of  Jesus  Christ 
be  accused  of  so  glaring  an  act  of  injustice?  Can  he  be  thought 
capable  of  having  dictated  a  bull  which  overthrew  an  entire 
nation,  which  dispossessed  so  many  ancient  proprietors  of  their 
patrimonies,  caused  so  much  blood  to  be  shed,  and  at  length 
tended  to  the  destruction  of  religion  in  the  island?  It  is  a  thing 
not  to  be  conceived. 

'  Cambrens.  Evers.,  cap,  22. 

*Nubrigius,  De  Rebus  Anglic,  lib.  ii.,  cap.  i6. 


48  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

"  In  truth,  were  we  to  consider  the  circumstances  and  motives 
of  the  bull,  it  has  all  the  appearance  of  a  fictitious  one,  under  the 
borrowed  name  of  Adrian  IV. *  Baronius  quotes  it,  without  giv- 
ing any  date  of  year  or  day,  which  would  make  it  appear  suspi- 
cious ;  //  remained  unpublished  for  seventeen  years  j  it  is  said  that 
it  was  fabricated  in  1155,  and  not  made  public  till  1172,  which 
Nicholas  Trivet  ascribes  to  the  opposition  it  met  with  from 
Henry's  mother.  He  adds,  that  the  King  having  assembled  his 
parliament  at  Winton,  about  the  festival  of  St.  Michael,  proposed 
the  conquest  of  Ireland  to  his  lords;  but  that  as  it  was  displeasing 
to  the  Empress  his  mother,  he  deferred  the  execution  of  it  to 
another  period.* 

"  The  bull  gains  but  little  authentication  from  the  authority  of 
John  of  Salisbury,  afterwards  bishop  of  Chartres,  in  his  treatise 
'de  nugis  curialibus. '  This  writer  is  made  to  say,  at  the  end  of 
the  last  chapter  of  his  fourth  book,  that:  'Pope  Adrian  had 
granted  Ireland  to  King  Henry,  at  his  request,  it  being  the  patri- 
mony of  his  holiness  by  hereditary  right,  inasmuch  as  all  the 
islands  belong  to  the  Roman  Church  by  the  concession  of  the 
Emperor  Constantine  the  Great.'  But  this  nonsense  is  con- 
sidered by  the  learned  as  having  been  added  to  the  chapter  by  a 
strange  hand;  since  the  author  in  speaking  particularly  in  the 
sixth  and  eighth  books,  of  his  visit  to  the  holy  father  at  Benevento, 
where  he  remained  with  him  for  three  months,  states  most  minutely 
the  various  conversations  which  he  had  with  his  holiness,  without 
making  any  mention  of  the  bull  in  question,  though  it  was  a  mat- 
ter of  particular  importance;  and  that  was  naturally  the  fit  time 
to  have  mentioned  it.  Pierre  de  Blois,  a  zealous  panegyrist  of 
this  prelate,  who  published  his  praises  in  various  epistles  makes 
no  mention  of  it  either. 

"  It  is  well  known  that  King  Henry,  who  found  creatures  suffi- 
ciently devoted  to  him  to  revenge  his  quarrel  with  the  holy  pre- 
late of  Canterbury,  did  not  want  for  venal  writers  to  add  to  and 
retrench  from,  the  writings  of  the  times,  in  order  to  give  an  ap- 
pearance of  authenticity  to  a  document  so  necessary  for  the  justi- 
fication of  his  conduct.  Besides,  it  appears  that  Salisbury  had 
gone  to  Italy  of  his  own  accord,  and  through  curiosity,  to  visit 

'  Proptig.  Cat  hoi.   Verit.,  lib.  v.,  cap.  17. 
^Usser,  Epist.  Hib.  Syllog.,  Epist.  46. 


Why  Adrian  Could  not  Bestow  Ireland    49 

his  countryman  Adrian  and  not  with  any  commission  from  the 
King  of  England ;  while  the  bull,  according  to  Mathew  of  West- 
minster, was  obtained  by  a  solemn  embassy,  which  Henry  had 
sent  to  the  Pope.  In  my  opinion,  however,  this  circumstance 
appears  to  be  another  fable  added  to  the  former;  as  he  is  the  first 
who  mentions  this  embassy,  and  that  two  centuries  afterwards. 
The  silence,  too,  of  Nubrigensis,  an  English  cotemporary  author, 
respecting  this  embassy  and  the  bull  which  it  is  affirmed  was 
granted,  is  an  argument  which  though  negative,  deserves  some 
attention.  This  author,  who  was  so  zealous  for  the  glory  of 
Henry  the  Second,  and  his  nation,  commences  his  narrative  by 
saying  that  the  English  had  entered  Ireland  in  a  warlike  man- 
ner, and  that,  their  forces  increasing  every  day,  they  subjugated  a 
considerable  part  of  it.'  He  makes  no  mention  of  a  bull  granted 
by  any  Pope;  and  I  consider  it  highly  improbable  that  he  would 
have  forgotten  to  speak  of  a  circumstance  so  necessary  to  give  an 
appearance  of  justice  to  the  unprecedented  conduct  of  his  nation. 
However  this  be,  it  may  be  affirmed  that  no  Pope,  either  before 
or  after  Adrian  IV.,  ever  punished  a  nation  so  severely  without 
cause.  We  have  seen  instances  of  Popes  making  use  of  their 
spiritual  authority  in  opposition  to  crowned  heads;  we  have 
known  them  to  excommunicate  emperors  and  kings,  and  place 
their  states  under  an  interdict,  for  crimes  of  heresy,  or  other 
causes;  but  we  here  behold  innocent  Ireland  given  up  to  tyrants, 
without  having  been  summoned  before  any  tribunal,  or  convicted 
of  any  crime. 

If  we  consider  the  bull  as  the  work  of  Adrian  IV.,  it  opens 
to  our  consideration  two  very  important  matters.  The  first  is 
the  real  or  supposed  right  of  the  popes  to  dispose  of  crowns  and 
kingdoms;  the  second  regards  the  reason  why  the  bull  was 
granted,  that  is,  the  true  or  false  statement  which  Henry  had 
made  to  the  pope,  of  the  real  state  of  religion  in  Ireland,  on 
which  the  concession  of  the  bull  is  founded.  In  the  former  we 
do  not  call  in  question  the  spiritual  power  of  St.  Peter's  suc- 
cessor; he  is  acknowledged  by  every  Catholic  Christian  as  the 
Vicar  of  Jesus  Christ  on   earth,    and   the  visible  head  of  His 

'  "At  that  time  the  English  made  a  descent  upon  Ireland  in  a  warlike  manner, 
and  their  numbers  having  increased,  they  became  masters  of  no  inconsiderable 
portion  of  it  by  force  of  arms." — Nubrigius,  De  Rebus  Anglic,  b.  iii.,  c.  26. 

VOL.  I.— 4. 


50  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

church;  it  is  only  necessary  to  know  whether  his  power  ex- 
tends equally  over  spiritual  and  temporal  matters;  or  rather  to 
speak  in  accordance  with  the  schools,  whether  he  received  a  two- 
fold power  from  God.  I  shall  enter  into  no  argument  on  this 
subject,  which  belongs  more  properly  to  theology  than  history, 
and  which  has  already  been  so  frequently  discussed.  The  digres- 
sion would  be  of  no  value  to  my  object,  particularly  as  the  bull 
only  mentions  islands;  though  I  see  no  reason  why  an  island  or 
a  kingdom  in  the  ocean  should  belong  to  the  holy  see,  as  affirmed 
in  the  bull,  any  more  than  the  kingdoms  of  the  continent,  unless 
it  be  advanced  that  he  holds  the  sovereignty  of  all  the  islands 
from  the  liberality  of  the  emperor  Constantine  the  Great;  to 
which  I  answer  that  Ireland,  which  had  never  obeyed  the  Ro- 
mans, could  not  be  of  that  number ' ;  consequently  this  claim  on 
Ireland  is  unfounded,  and  therefore  the  concession  was  unjust. 
It  might  more  reasonably  be  made  with  reference  to  Great  Britain, 
which  was  under  the  dominion  of  the  Romans  both  before  and  after 
the  reign  of  Constantine,  yet  the  Kings  of  England  have  never 
understood  to  hold  their  sovereignty  from  the  holy  see. 

"Adrian  IV.  was  elected  on  the  3d  of  December  1154  and 
held  the  holy  see  for  four  years,  eight  months,  and  twenty-nine 
days;  he  therefore  died  ist  September,  1159.  According  to  the 
most  correct  authors  of  both  nations,  the  first  English  adventurer 
who  landed  in  Ireland,  under  the  title  of  ally  of  the  King  of  Lein- 
ster,  was  Robert  Fitz-Stephen.  His  arrival  in  the  island  is  fixed  in 
the  year  1169.  Some  time  afterwards  he  was  followed  by  Richard 
of  Chepstow,  and  in  1172  by  Henry  the  Second.  We  should 
therefore  place  this  supposed  address  of  the  clergy  and  people  of 
Ireland  to  Adrian  IV.,  at  least  twelve  years  after  the  death  of 
that  pope,  which  does  not  agree  with  the  calculations  of  Sanderus." 

Lingard  states ' : 

"  It  was  during  this  period  when  his  authority  in  Ireland  was 

'  "  The  Irish  nation,  from  the  first  period  of  their  arrival  and  from  the  reign 
of  the  first  Heremon  to  the  times  of  Gurmundis  and  Jurgesius  (when  her  peace 
was  disturbed),  and  again  from  their  death  to  our  own  times — continued  free 
and  undisturbed  by  any  foreign  nation." — G.  Cambrensis,  Topography  of  Ire- 
land, cap.  31. 

^ History  of  England,  etc.,  by  John  Lingard,  D.D.,  London,  1849,  vol.  ii., 
p.  185. 


The  Bull  of  Alexander  III.  51 

nearly  annihilated,  that  Henry  bethought  him  of  the  letter  which 
he  had  formerly  procured  from  Pope  Adrian.  It  had  been  for- 
gotten during  almost  twenty  years;  now  it  was  drawn  from  ob- 
scurity, was  intrusted  to  William  Fitz-Aldhelm  and  Nicholas, 
Prior  of  Wallingford,  and  was  read  by  them  with  much  solemnity 
to  a  synod  of  Irish  bishops.  How  far  it  served  to  convince  these 
prelates  that  the  King  was  the  rightful  sovereign  of  the  island,  we 
are  left  to  conjecture.     .     .     ." 

Lingard  offers  no  explanation  for  the  invasion  of  Ireland 
and  the  supposition  that  it  was  for  conquest  is  the  only- 
tenable  one.  Nor  does  he  give  any  authority  for  the  asser- 
tion that  Henry  had  during  nearly  twenty  years  forgotten 
the  existence  of  Adrian's  Bull  nor  could  there  be  any  ex- 
planation for  the  omission  to  present,  if  it  existed,  so  im- 
portant a  justification,  on  the  first  landing  of  the  English 
in  Ireland.  But  he  undertakes  to  show  that  the  Irish,  "like 
the  ancestors  of  their  neighbours,  were  in  former  ages  far 
removed  from  the  habits  and  decencies  of  civilized  life." 

We  again  resume  the  statement  of  the  Abb6  Mac- 
Geoghegan : 

"  I  here  subjoin  another  bull,  which  English  authors  mention 
to  have  been  given  by  Alexander  the  Third,  confirming  that  of 
Adrian,  and  apparently  of  the  same  fabric. 

"  'Alexander,  bishop,  servant  of  the  servants  of  God,  to  his 
most  dear  son  in  Christ,  the  illustrious  King  of  England,  health 
and  apostolic  benediction. 

"  '  For  as  much  as  those  things  which  are  known  to  have  been 
reasonably  granted  by  our  predecessors,  deserve  to  be  confirmed 
in  lasting  stability,  we,  adhering  to  the  footsteps  of  Pope  Adrian, 
and  regarding  the  result  of  our  gift  to  you,  (the  annual  tax  of 
one  penny  from  each  house  being  secured  to  St.  Peter  and  the 
holy  Roman  church)  confirm  and  ratify  the  same,  considering 
that  its  impurities  being  cleansed,  that  barbarous  nation  which 
bears  the  name  of  Christian,  may  by  your  grace,  assume  the  come- 
liness of  morality,  and  that  a  system  of  discipline  being  introduced 
into  her  heretofore  unregulated  church,  she  may,  through  you, 
effectually  attain  with  the  name  the  benefits  of  Christianity.*  " 


52  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

"  Were  we  to  compare  this  bull  and  the  preceding  one  with  the 
treatise  on  '  Ireland  conquered, '  composed  at  the  same  time  by 
Giraldus  Cambrensis,  we  would  discover  great  similarity  of  style 
between  them;  and  if  they  are  not  by  the  same  writer,  they  ap- 
pear at  least  to  have  been  composed  to  maintain  each  other 
mutually,  and  thereby  acquire  a  degree  of  credit  among  the 
public. 

"  The  bull  of  Alexander  the  Third,  must  appear  a  paradox  to 
all  those  who  strictly  investigate  the  morals  of  Henry,  and  his 
behavior  to  the  court  of  Rome.  A  bad  christian  makes  a  bad 
apostle. 

"What  was  Henry  the  Second?  A  man  who  in  private  life 
forgot  the  essential  duties  of  religion,  and  frequently  those  of 
nature;  a  superstitious  man,  who  under  the  veil  of  religion,  joined 
the  most  holy  practices  to  the  most  flagrant  vices;  regardless  of 
his  word,  when  to  promote  his  own  interest,  he  broke  the  most 
solemn  treaties  with  the  King  of  France;  he  considered  principle 
as  nothing,  when  the  sacrifice  of  it  promised  to  produce  him  a 
benefit.  It  is  well  known,  that  without  any  scruple,  he  married 
Eleanor  of  Aquitaine,  so  famous  for  her  debaucheries,  and 
branded  by  her  divorce  from  Louis  the  Seventh.  He  ungrate- 
fully confined  this  very  woman  in  chains,  though  she  had  brought 
him  one-fourth  of  France  as  her  marriage  portion.  He  was  a 
bad  father,  quarrelled  with  all  his  children,  and  became  engaged 
in  wars  on  every  side.' 

"  As  a  king  he  tyrannized  over  his  nobles  and  took  pleasure  in 
confounding  all  their  privileges;  like  his  predecessors,  he  was  the 
sworn  enemy  of  the  popes;  he  attacked  their  rights,  persecuted 
their  adherents,  sent  back  their  legates  with  contempt,  encroached 
upon  the  privileges  and  immunities  of  the  church,  and  gloried  in 
supporting  the  most  unjust  usurpers  of  them;  which  led  to  the 
martyrdom  of  St.  Thomas  of  Canterbury.  Again  his  debaucheries 
are  admitted  by  every  historian."  No  one  is  ignorant  that  he 
went  so  far  as  to  seduce  the  young  Alix,  who  had  been  betrothed 
to  his  son  Richard,  and  that  all  the  misfortunes  which  filled  the 
latter  part  of  his  life  with  affliction,  were  caused  by  this  passion, 
as  obstinate  as  it  was  criminal  and  base.     Behold  the  apostle,  the 

'  Baker,  Chron.  of  E^tgland,  "  Life  of  Henry  the  Second." 
'  Harpsfield,  sseculo  xii.,  cap.  15. 


Henry  Antagonized  the  Pope  53 

reformer,  whom  the  holy  see  would  have  chosen  to  convert  Ire- 
land. The  witnesses  we  bring  forth  are  not  to  be  suspected. 
Cambrensis  himself,  whose  opinions  I  have  elsewhere  refuted,  is 
the  first  to  acknowledge  the  irregularities  of  Henry  the  Second. 
He  who  knew  him  so  well  and  who  was  his  friend  and  favorite, 
thus  speaks  of  his  morals.' 

"It  cannot  be  supposed  that  his  conduct  towards  Alexander 
the  Third  would  have  induced  him  as  pope  to  grant  the  bull 
attributed  to  him.  In  1150,  Henry  promised  obedience  to 
Octavianus,  the  anti-pope,  and  in  1166,  to  Guido,  his  successor. 
Roger  Hoveden,  an  English  cotemporary  writer,  says,  that  in 
1 1 64  he  pronounced  a  harsh  and  wicked  edict  against  Pope 
Alexander,  '  Henricus  rex  fecit  grave  edictum,  et  execrabile, 
contra  Alexandrum  papam,'  &c.  In  that  same  year  he  enacted 
laws,  by  which  it  was  forbidden,  under  heavy  penalties,  to  obey 
the  sovereign  pontiff  or  his  censures;  which  gave  rise  to  the  com- 
plaints made  by  the  pope  of  him  in  a  letter  which  he  wrote  to 
Roger,  the  archbishop.^ 

"It  is  mentioned  by  Barontius,  that  in  the  same  year,  Henry 
had  caused  troubles  capable  of  overthrowing  not  only  the  primate 
of  Canterbury  and  the  whole  English  church,  but  even  the  holy 
Catholic  Church  and  its  prelate  Alexander,  for  whom,  in  particu- 
lar, he  had  laid  his  snares.^ 

^  Hibernia  Expugnata,  b.  i.,  c.  45.  "  He  was  less  given  to  devotion  than 
to  hunting ;  was  an  open  violator  of  the  marriage  contract ;  a  ready  breaker 
of  his  promise  in  most  things;  for  whenever  he  got  into  difficulties  he  preferred 
to  repent  rather  of  his  word  than  of  his  deed,  considering  it  more  easy  to 
nullify  the  former  than  the  latter.  He  was  an  oppressor  of  the  nobility; 
daringly  audacious  in  his  usurpations  of  sacred  things,  and  in  his  desire  to 
monopolize  the  administration  of  justice  ;  he  united  the  laws  of  his  realm  with 
those  of  the  church,  or  rather  confounded  them  together  ;  and  converted  to  the 
purpose  of  the  state  the  revenues  of  the  vacant  churches." 

*  "  When  the  King  should  attend  to  reforming  the  abuses  of  his  predecessors, 
he  himself  adds  injustice  to  injustice  and  establishes  and  confirms,  under 
sanction  of  the  royal  authority,  equally  unjust  institutions  ;  under  which  the 
liberty  of  the  church  perishes,  and  the  regulations  of  apostolical  men  are,  so 
far  as  it  lies  in  his  power,  deprived  of  their  efficacy.  The  King  himself, 
trifling  with  our  forbearance  by  the  subtle  acts  of  his  ambassadors,  seems  to  have 
so  far  hardened  his  mind  to  our  admonitions,  that  he  will  not  be  reconciled  to 
the  archbishop,"  etc. — Hoveden,  Annales,  pp.  518,  519,  cited  Grat.  Luc,  c.  23. 

^  "  Henry  raised  the  waters  to  overwhelm  not  only  the  bishop  of  Canter- 
bury,  together  with  the  whole  English  Church,  but  the  entire  of   the   holy 


54  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

'*  Westmonasteriensis  says  that  in  1168  he  sent  an  ambassador 
to  the  emperor  Frederick,  proposing  to  second  him  in  deposing 
pope  Alexander,  who  had  become  his  adversary  by  encouraging 
the  opposition  of  Thomas  k  Becket.  He  adds  that  he  made  his 
EngHsh  subjects,  both  young  and  old,  adjure  their  obedience  to 
the  pope/  In  fine,  he  was  so  disrespectful  to  the  holy  see,  that 
he  dismissed,  with  contempt,  the  cardinals  which  the  pope  had 
sent  to  him  in  1169. 

"  These  bulls  have,  in  fact,  all  the  appearance  of  forgery. 
They  are  not  to  be  met  with  in  any  collection.  It  appears,  also, 
that  Henry  the  Second,  considered  them  so  insufficient  to 
strengthen  his  dominion  in  Ireland,  that  he  solicited  Pope  Lucius 
the  Third,  who  succeeded  Alexander,  to  confirm  them;  but  that 
pope  was  too  just  to  authorize  his  usurpation,  and  paid  no  regard 
to  a  considerable  sum  of  money  which  the  king  sent  to  him." 

"  The  misunderstanding  between  the  sovereign  pontiff  and  the 
King  of  England  was  carried  to  the  highest  pitch  by  the  martyr- 
dom of  the  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  which  happened  in  1171. 
Strong  suspicions  were  entertained  of  the  prince  having  con- 
tributed to  that  barbarous  deed.  He  saw  the  storm  ready  to 
burst  upon  him  and  being  desirous  to  avert  the  blow  he  sent  am- 
bassadors to  Rome,  who  were  badly  received.  The  pope  refused 
to  see  or  hear  them,  and  all  that  could  be  obtained  from  his  holi- 
ness was,  to  use  the  general  terms  of  abettors,  actors,  and  accom- 
plices, in  the  excommunication  he  pronounced  on  that  occasion, 
without  naming  Henry.  ^ 

Catholic  Church,  together  with  its  pastor  Alexander  ;  against  him  in  particular 
he  directed  his  machinations." 

'  "  King  Henry,  whose  anger  was  changed  into  hatred  of  the  blessed 
Thomas,  and  of  the  pope,  in  consequence  of  his  having  espoused  the  cause  of 
the  former,  sent  to  the  emperor  Frederick,  requesting  him  to  co-operate  in 
removing  Alexander  from  the  popedom  because  he  had  made  himself  obnox- 
ious to  Henry  by  aiding  the  fugitive  and  traitorous  Thomas,  who  had  been  the 
archbishop  of  Canterbury  for  some  time  ;  he  caused  the  obedience  due  in 
England  to  the  pope  to  be  abjured  by  all,  from  the  boy  of  twelve  years  of  age 
to  the  aged  men." — JVest  Flor.  Hist.,  1168. 

'  Catnbrensis  Eversus,  cap.  24, 

'  "  The  pope  refused  either  to  see  or  hear  the  ambassadors  whom  Henry  had 
sent  to  exculpate  himself  from  the  murder  of  Thomas  of  Canterbury  ;  but  the 
Roman  Court  cried  out,  '  Desist,  desist,'  as  if  it  were  impious  for  the  pope  to 
hear  the  name  of  Henry  who  had  sent  them.     By  the  general  advice  of  the 


State  of  Religion  in  Ireland  55 

"  Such  was  the  state  of  affairs  between  Alexander  the  Third, 
and  Henry  the  Second,  who  never  ceased  annoying  the  pope, 
from  the  time  of  his  elevation  to  the  holy  see,  in  1159  to  1172,  the 
date  of  the  bull.  Every  year  he  was  guilty  of  some  new  act,  as 
dishonoring  to  the  pope  as  it  was  injurious  to  the  interests  of 
the  church.  The  massacre  of  St.  Thomas  of  Canterbury,  which 
happened  in  the  year  above  mentioned,  alarmed  all  Europe  and 
angered  the  pope  to  such  a  degree  against  Henry,  that  he  was  on 
the  point  of  making  use  of  the  spiritual  weapons  of  the  church 
against  him.  Can  we  believe,  that  under  these  circumstances, 
the  pope  would  have  publicly  loaded  the  man  with  benefits,  whom 
he  had  tacitly  excommunicated  ?  It  is  quite  impossible  to  imagine, 
that  in  order  to  bring  a  foreign  people  back  to  their  obedience  to 
the  holy  see,  his  holiness  would  have  committed  the  undertaking 
to  a  prince  who  had  already  banished  that  obedience  from  his 
own  States. 

"  In  order  to  judge  of  the  motives  upon  which  the  bulls  of  Ad- 
rian the  Fourth  and  Alexander  the  Third  were  founded,  the  state 
of  the  church  of  Ireland,  at  this  time,  should  be  examined  into." 

After  considering  at  great  length  the  condition  of  affairs 
in  Ireland  the  author  shows  conclusively  that  there  was  no 
foundation  for  the  one  claimed  to  exist  by  the  English. 

He  states : 

"  During  this  interval  of  time,  Ireland  produced  prelates  of  the 
highest  celebrity  for  their  virtues  and  doctrine,  who  would  have 
been  an  ornament  to  the  most  flourishing  churches  in  Europe.  .  .  . 

"After  all  I  have  said  on  the  state  of  religion  in  Ireland  during 
the  hundred  and  fifty  years  which  immediately  preceded  the  reign 
of  Henry  the  Second;  of  the  several  councils  which  had  been 
convened  for  the  regulation  of  morals  and  the  re-establishment  of 
discipline  &c.  .  .  .  can  it  be  supposed  that  the  degeneracy 
of  morals  and  religion  was  so  general  and  inveterate  as  is  repre- 
sented in  the  bulls  of  Adrian  and  Alexander?  People  who  ra- 
tionally weigh  the  whole  will  not  be  such  dupes  as  to  believe  them. ' ' 

council,  the  pope  dispensed  with  expressly  mentioning  the  name  of  the  King 
and  the  country  beyond  the  sea  ;  but  the  sentence  of  the  interdict  was  main- 
tained, and  that  against  the  bishops  confirmed." — Hoveden,  p.  526. 


56  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

"  The  greater  part  of  those  who  went  to  Ireland,  under  Henry 
II.,  to  reform  the  morals  of  the  Irish,  were  the  descendants 
of  the  Normans  who  had  accompanied  William  the  Conqueror 
into  England.  Their  sojourn  in  France  had  been  too  short  to 
have  enabled  them  to  divest  themselves  completely  of  the  barbar- 
ous manners  of  their  ancestors,  and  assume  those  of  the  polished 
people  of  that  country;  and  their  removal  to  England  did  not 
tend  to  diminish  their  ferocity.  ,  .  .  Such,  however,  were 
the  doctors  whom  Henry  the  Second  sent  to  Ireland,  by  apos- 
tolical authority,  as  it  is  pretended,  to  re-establish  religion,  and 
correct  the  morals  of  the  people;  but  their  conduct  was  more 
calculated  to  shake  the  true  believers,  than  confirm  them  in  the 
christian  religion.  They  made  the  Irish  pay  dearly  for  their  pre- 
tended mission,  and  taught  them  the  English  language  to  their 
cost.  Experience  itself  proves  the  futility  of  this  pretended  re- 
formation. The  first  adventurers  who  came  from  England  into 
Ireland,  were  people  who  held  nothing  sacred;  but  their  children, 
more  happy  than  their  fathers,  having  been  civilized  by  their  in- 
tercourse with  the  natives  of  the  latter  country,  whose  manners 
they  assumed,  lost  altogether  that  ferocity  of  disposition  wJiich  is, 
even  to  this  day,  tJie  attribute  of  the  inhabitants  of  Great  Britain. 
It  is  easy  to  discover  the  spring  which  the  Englishman 
put  in  motion  on  this  occasion.  The  supposed  reformation  of  the 
morals  of  the  Irish  was  but  a  pretext  which  he  made  use  of  to 
usurp  the  crown  of  Ireland. 

"  Nothing  but  a  war  founded  on  just  grounds,  that  is,  on  some 
injury  from  those  we  intend  to  reduce,  can  render  a  conquest 
lawful.  At  the  time  we  speak  of,  there  was  no  war  between 
England  and  the  Irish;  and  if  the  King  of  Leinster  brought  over 
the  former  to  assist  him  in  recovering  his  crown,  he  rewarded 
them  amply.  He  could  give  them  no  right  over  the  other  pro- 
vinces, not  possessing  any  over  them  himself." 

Lanigan  '  treats  of  the  subject  as  follows : 

"  Henry  the  Second,  who  became  King  of  England  about  the 
same  time  that  Adrian  was  placed  on  the  chair  of  St.  Peter,  on 

^  An  Ecclesiastical  History  of  Ireland,  etc.,  by  the  Rev.  John  Lanigan, 
D.D.,  Dublin,  1882,  vol.  iv.,  pp.  158,  164-166. 


Bull  probably  a  Forgery  57 

being  informed  of  his  promotion  wrote  to  him  a  complimentary- 
letter  of  congratulation  and  having  thus  opened  the  way  for  ob- 
taining favors,  applied  to  him  in  the  year  1115  by  means  of  John 
of  Salisbury  then  Chaplain  to  Theobald,  archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury, for  a  really  important  one.  John,  addressed  the  Pope,  in 
the  King's  name  asked  him  for  permission  for  his  master  to  take 
possession  of  Ireland  for  the  purpose  of  extending  the  boundaries 
of  the  church,  of  announcing  to  unlearned  and  rude  people  the 
truth  of  the  Christian  faith  and  extirpating  the  weeds  of  vices 
from  the  fields  of  the  Lord.  What  an  apostolical  and  exemplary 
sovereign  was  Henry  Plantagenet !  It  is  strange  that  the  pope 
could  have  listened  to  such  stuff,  while  he  knew,  that  Pollimus 
had  been  sent,  only  three  or  four  years  before  that  time  to  Ireland 
by  his  patron  and  benefactor,  the  good  Pope  Eugenius  the  Third 
and  must  have  been  informed  by  Cardinal  Papars,  who  was,  as 
St.  Bernard  states,  a  very  worthy  man,  that  many  good  regula- 
tions had  been  made ;  that  there  were  excellent  bishops  in  this 
country  such  as  Gelarius  of  Armagh  and  Christian  of  Lismore, 
and  that  the  Irish  church  was  not  then  in  so  degenerate  a  state  as 
to  require  the  intervention  or  the  pious  exertions  of  such  a  King 
as  Henry. 

"Adrian's  bull  is  of  so  unwarrantable  and  unjustifiable  a 
nature,  that  some  writers  could  not  bring  themselves  to  believe 
that  he  issued  it,  and  have  endeavored  to  prove  it  a  forgery;  but 
their  efforts  were  of  no  avail,  and  never  did  there  exist  a  more 
real  or  authentic  document." 

Dr.  Lanigan  follows  this  paragraph  in  the  text  with  the 
following  note : 

"  Gratianus  Lucius  (Lynch)  greatly  exerted  himself  {Cambr. 
Evers.  cap.  22)  in  striving  to  show  that  the  Bull  is  spurious,  and 
Mac-Geoghegan  should  fain  make  us  believe  the  same  thing.  It 
has  not  indeed  been  published  in  the  Bullarium  Romanum,  the 
editors  of  which  tvere  ashamed  of  it.  But  there  was  a  copy  of  it  in 
the  Vatican  as  is  clear  from  its  being  referred  to  by  Pope  John 
XXII  in  his  Brief  to  Edward  the  Second  of  England  written  in 
1319.  ...  In  the  said  Brief  the  Pope  not  only  refers  to 
Adrian's  Bull  or  letter  by  name,  but  says  that  he  joins  to  the 


58  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

Brief  a  copy  of  it  for  the  King.  .  .  .  Adrian's  grant  of  Ire- 
land to  Henry  is  expressly  mentioned  and  confirmed  by  Pope 
Alexander  the  Third  in  his  letter  to  him  of  the  year  1172.  Giral- 
dus  Cambrensis  i^De  Rebus  a  Segestis,  part  ii.,  cap.  11,  and  Hiberni. 
Expugn,  1.  ii.,  c.  6)  Mathew  Paris  {Historia  Major,  &c.  ad  A. 
1 155)  and  others  give  not  only  an  account  of  said  Bull,  but  the 
Bull  itself;  and  Usher  states  {Sylloge,  not.  on  No.  46)  that  he 
saw  copies  of  it  in  the  registers  of  the  diocese  of  Dublin  and  Lis- 
more.  What  has  been  now  said  is  surely  more  than  enough  to 
set  aside  the  doubts  of  Lynch  or  of  any  other  writer." 

Dr.  Lanigan's  opinion  and  acceptance  of  the  Adrian  bull, 
as  being  authentic,  should  under  ordinary  circumstances  not 
be  questioned,  as  there  has  existed  no  higher  authority  on 
all  subjects  connected  with  the  early  ecclesiastical  history  of 
Ireland.  He  has  evinced  a  profound  knowledge  of  the  sub- 
ject in  his  work  but  in  reference  to  this  point  he  has  not 
shown  his  usual  skill  in  the  weighing  of  evidence.  Doubt- 
less many  copies  exist  of  the  so-termed  Bull  of  Adrian  but 
there  is  nothing  to  prove  that  the  common  source  was 
genuine.  The  reason  given  by  him,  that  the  editors  were 
ashamed  of  the  Bull  and  consequently  did  not  publish  it  in 
the  official  record,  is  absurd.  Their  only  purpose  was  to 
publish  the  State  Papers  on  record  in  Rome  and  under  the 
circumstances  it  cannot  be  supposed  that  any  discrimination 
would  have  been  exercised.  The  mention  made  by  Alex- 
ander of  Adrian's  action  and  his  sending  a  copy  of  the  Bull 
to  Henry,  which  Lanigan  accepts  as  a  positive  proof,  proves 
nothing  towards  disproving  forgery  if  an  official  record  and 
copy  of  this  particular  State  paper  does  not  exist  and,  as 
Lynch  claims,  is  wanting  among  the  Roman  Bullarium. 
There  doubtless  is  on  file  in  the  Vatican  a  copy  of  what 
Henry  H.  claimed  to  be  a  Bull  from  Adrian  IV.  but  the  cir- 
cumstance carries  no  more  proof  than  does  the  existence  of 
a  similar  copy  in  the  Dublin  and  Lismore  registers. 

The  reader  should  bear  in  mind  that  Henry  II.  was  a 
most  disreputable  character  and  no  testimony  has  been 
presented  from  any  source  which  would  in  any  respect  mili- 


Original  Document  never  Found         59 

tate  in  his  favor.  Had  there  existed  in  Ireland  even  a 
worse  condition  than,  it  is  held,  Henry  represented  to  the 
Pope,  the  common  conclusion  must  be  reached  by  all,  with- 
out reference  to  religious  bias  or  prejudice,  that  Henry 
could  never  have  been  selected  under  the  circumstances  by 
Adrian  for  such  a  mission,  if  it  be  admitted  that  there  ex- 
isted on  the  part  of  the  Pope  a  desire  to  benefit  the  Irish 
people. 

That  Henry  was  a  trickster  and  a  consummate  liar  both 
friend  and  foe  agree.  Lingard,  who  accepts  the  authen- 
ticity of  the  Adrian  Bull  without  question,  with  all  his  pre- 
judices in  favor  of  his  countrymen,  the  King  and  the  Pope, 
makes  the  following  acknowledgment ' : 

"  No  one  could  believe  his  assertions  or  trust  his  promises" ; 
and  this  author  in  a  note  gives  the  following  references : 

"  Girald.  Camb.  783.  Cardinal  Vivian,  after  a  long  conversa- 
tion with  Henry,  said:  'Never  did  I  witness  this  man's  equal  in 
lying ' — Ep.  S.  Thorn.,  iii.,  60.  The  King  of  France  declared  to 
Henry's  ambassadors,  that  their  master  was  so  full  of  fraud  and 
deceit,  so  regardless  of  his  word  and  covenant,  that  it  was  impos- 
sible to  put  faith  in  him.     Armul.  ep.  Ixvii." 

Were  we  destitute  of  all  other  evidence,  beyond  a  know- 
ledge of  Henry's  character  and  special  unfitness  for  the  pur- 
pose, we  would  be  justified  in  claiming  the  so-called  Bull  of 
Adrian  to  be  a  forgery,  perpetrated  through  the  influence 
of  Henry  II. 

The  facts  thus  established  go  to  show  that  even  the  exist- 
ence of  this  alleged  Papal  Bull  was  not  made  known  until  at 
least  seventeen  years  had  elapsed  after  the  time  it  was  said  to 
have  been  executed.  At  this  time  the  Pope,  as  well  as  all 
those  about  him  who  would  have  known  the  facts,  had  been 
dead  a  number  of  years. 

The  original  document  does  not  exist  nor  is  there  record 
anywhere  showing  that  its  existence  was  ever  personally 
known  to  any  cotemporary  witness  save  those  who  were  the 

'  Lingard,  p.  106. 


6o  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

interested  parties.  It  is  claimed  that  among  the  archives 
of  Rome,  where  so  important  a  State  Paper  would  be  re- 
corded had  it  been  issued,  there  is  no  reference  to  it,  in  its 
proper  place  and  order,  and  this  fact  alone,  if  true,  should 
be  sufficient  to  establish  the  forgery. 

It  is  proved  beyond  question  then  that  there  was  no  need 
for  Henry's  assistance  in  the  reformation  of  the  Irish  morals 
but  that  the  Irish  were  at  that  time  far  more  observant  of 
their  religious  duties  than  the  English.  It  is  not  possible, 
with  the  church  discipline  which  had  existed  for  centuries 
previous  to  this  date  and  which  it  is  well  known  was  ob- 
served in  Ireland,  that  the  Pope  could  have  been  in  ignorance 
of  these  facts.  Moreover,  his  action,  without  investiga- 
tion, under  any  circumstances  would  have  been  contrary  to 
custom.  With  the  knowledge  we  possess,  it  does  not  seem 
possible  that  Henry  II.  would  have  been  selected  under  any 
circumstances  for  reforming  the  alleged  laxity  of  morals  and 
religious  observances  among  the  Irish  people,  as  he  had 
akvays  defied  the  Pope's  authority  and  was  himself  so  indiffer- 
ent to  the  exercise  of  every  religious  obligation. 

No  large  portion  of  the  Irish  people  ever  recognized  the 
authority  of  Henry  II.,  save  under  durance,  nor  have  the 
majority  since  acknowledged  that  of  the  English  Govern- 
ment from  the  time  of  Henry  VIII.  to  the  present  day,  save 
under  protest  and  by  force. 

The  Archbishop  of  Dublin  and  a  few  other  persons,  who 
were  equally  unauthorized  to  act  for  the  Irish  people  at 
large,  finally  signed  what  was  termed  the  treaty  of  Windsor, 
as  a  tributary  acknowledgment  of  Henry  II.  But  for  some 
four  hundred  years  after  this  time  English  authority  was 
confined  entirely  to  the  Pale,  as  it  was  termed,  a  limited 
tract  of  country  extending  from  Dublin  to  the  southwest, 
which  had  been  seized  and  settled  by  the  English.  Beyond 
this  country  the  right  of  the  English  Crown  was  but  an 
empty  title.  But  the  whole  island  was  kept  in  a  constant 
state  of  turmoil  from  the  attacks  of  the  English  in  their 
quest  of  plunder  and  land-grabbing. 


The  King  of  Ulster  Appeals  to  the  Pope    6i 

This  condition  of  unrest  had  existed  for  over  one  hundred 
years  after  the  reign  of  Henry  II.,  when  the  Irish  chiefs 
decided  to  make  Edward  Bruce,  brother  of  Robert  of  Scot- 
land, who  was  of  their  race,  King  of  Ireland.  O'Neill, 
King  of  Ulster,  in  their  name  addressed,  during  the  reign 
of  Edward  11. ,  a  voluminous  and  bitterly  expressed  re- 
monstrance to  Pope  John  XXII.,  as  an  appeal  to  the  then- 
considered  highest  authority. 

Some  extracts  from  this  document  as  taken  from  Plow- 
den's  history  '  are  given  in  the  Appendix'  to  show  the  un- 
happy condition  of  Ireland  which  then  existed  and  which 
was  destined  to  remain  unchanged  even  to  the  present  day. 

Edward  Bruce  was  at  first  successful  against  the  English 
in  maintaining  his  right  to  the  Irish  Crown  but  on  the  loth 
of  August,  13 1 5,  in  the  battle  of  Athunree,  the  Irish  Army 
was  defeated  with  great  slaughter;  Bruce  lost  his  life  with 
over  ten  thousand  of  his  followers,  after  a  struggle  of  over 
twelve  hours  in  duration,  and  for  a  time  all  opposition  to 
the  English,  by  force  of  arms,  was  literally  crushed  out 

^  An  Historical  Reviezv  of  the  State  of  Ireland,  etc.,  by  Francis  Plowden, 
Phila,,  1805,  vol.  i. ,  Appendix,  p.  4.  The  Abbe  MacGeoghegan  also  gives 
some  extracts  seemingly  from  the  same  document,  which  he  credits  to  the 
Scotic  Chronicle  of  John  Fardum  but  they  must  either  be  a  very  free  transla- 
tion or  they  were  taken  from  an  accompanying  letter  to  the  Sovereign  Pontiff 
by  Donald  O'Neill,  who  wrote  the  original  document  and  possibly  in  a  more 
general  manner  reiterated  in  a  letter  the  causes  of  complaint. 

'  See  Appendix,  note  3. 


CHAPTER   III 

THE  CLAN  SYSTEM — IRELAND  NEVER  ACCEPTED  ENGLISH 
AUTHORITY — BEGINNING  OF  LAND  CONFISCATION  ON' 
THE  PLEA  OF  REBELLION — GREAT  SUFFERING — AT- 
TEMPT TO  EXTERMINATE  THE  CATHOLICS  —  THE 
"CONFEDERATION   OF   KILKENNY" 

Long  after  the  first  English  invasion  the  lands  of  Ireland 
continued  to  be  held  under  the  Clan  system,  by  which  each 
individual  was  a  co-proprietor  and  each  tribe  was  governed 
by  its  own  chief. 

England  early  realized  the  advantage  to  be  gained  by 
exciting  constant  warfare  between  the  different  tribes,  as 
her  assistance  was  thus  eventually  sought  by  one  side  or 
the  other.  The  result  was  an  opportunity  or  pretext  af- 
forded for  seizing  the  land  of  both  parties,  without  regard 
to  the  vested  rights  of  the  individual  members,  all  of  whom 
were  ultimately  either  driven  out  or  put  to  the  sword. 

Religious  persecution  had  no  part  in  the  contest  between 
the  English  and  Irish  people  until  the  latter  portion  of  the 
sixteenth  century.  Gain  of  territory  was  the  chief  incentive 
and,  until  the  reign  of  Charles  I.,  in  every  contest  the  Catho- 
lic Irish  were  divided  in  sentiment  and  some  portion  of  them 
served  as  English  allies.  Henry  VIII.  was  the  first  English 
sovereign  who  made  a  systematic  effort  to  bring  the  whole  of 
Ireland  under  English  rule  and  by  open  warfare  he  was  suc- 
cessful to  a  great  degree.  His  chief  purpose  was  to  reduce 
the  Irish  rulers  to  a  recognition  of  his  right  of  sovereignty 
and  he  deprived  very  few  of  their  local  authority.     Notwith- 

62 


The  Mulloghmaston  Massacre  63 

standing  he  was  declared  King  of  Ireland  it  was  a  fiction,  in 
so  far  that  whole  districts  had  never  recognized  English 
authority  or  come  in  conflict  with  it.  Hence  the  subse- 
quent injustice  of  punishing  these  people  as  being  guilty 
of  treason  by  putting  them  to  the  sword  and  by  confiscating 
their  land. 

The  conditions  which  developed  after  the  death  of  Henry 
Vni.  cannot  be  described  in  fewer  words  than  in  the  follow- 
ing from  Lecky's  work;  the  authorities  cited  by  him  have 
been  carefully  compared  by  the  writer  with  the  originals.* 

He  writes ' : 

"The  system  was  begun  on  a  large  scale  in  Leinster  in  the 
reign  of  Mary,  when  the  immense  territories  belonging  to  the 
O'Mores,  the  O'Connors,  and  the  O'Dempseys  were  confiscated, 
planted  with  English  colonies  and  converted  into  two  English 
counties.  The  names  of  the  Queen's  County  and  the  King's 
County,  with  their  capitals,  Maryborough  and  Philipstown,  are 
among  the  very  few  existing  memorials  of  a  reign  which  English- 
men would  gladly  forget.  The  confiscation,  being  carried  out 
without  any  regard  for  the  rights  of  the  humbler  members  of  the 
tribes,  gave  rise,  as  might  have  been  expected,  to  a  long  and 
bloody  guerilla  warfare  between  the  new  tenants  and  the  old  pro- 
prietors, which  extended  far  into  the  reign  of  Elizabeth  and  is 
especially  famous  in  Irish  memories  for  the  treacherous  murder 
by  the  new  settlers  of  the  Irish  chiefs,  who  were  said  to  have 
been  invited  with  that  object  to  a  peaceful  conference  at  Mul- 
laghamast. "  ' 

Curry  writes  * : 

' '  In  the  same  year,  an  horrible  massacre  was  committed  by 
the  English  at  Mulloghmaston,  on  some  hundreds  of  the  most 

'  Mr.  Lecky  cannot  be  charged  with  being  an  Irish  sympathizer  but,  for  a 
representative  in  Parliament  from  Trinity  College,  Dublin,  he  is  unusually  fair 
to  the  Irish  people  throughout  his  work. 

2  A  History  of  Irelandin  the  Eighteenth  Century,  by  W.  E.  H.  Lecky,  New 
York,  1893,  vol.  i.,  p.  i8. 

^See  also  Bagwell's  Ireland  under  the  Tudor s,  pp.  Ii,  130,  131. 

*  An  Historical  and  Critical  Review  of  the  Civil  Wars  in  Ireland,  etc., 
J.  C.  [John  Curry,  M.D.],  Dublin,  1775,  p.  6  and  note. 


64  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

peaceable  of  the  Irish  gentry,  invited  thither  on  the  pubhc  faith, 
and  under  the  protection  of  the  government.  .  .  .  The 
fact  is  thus  literally  translated  from  the  Irish  annals  of  Queen 
Elizabeth's  reign: — 'The  Calendar  of  January,  on  Tuesday, 
1577.  In  this  year  the  English  of  Leinster  and  Meath  committed 
horrid  murders  on  such  of  the  O' Mores  and  O'Connors,  and 
others  of  the  King's  and  Queen's  county  as  kept  the  peace,  sued 
for  protection,  and  held  no  correspondence  with  those  of  their 
kindred,  who  still  stood  out  in  arms  against  the  English  govern- 
ment. 

"  'The  English  published  a  proclamation,  inviting  all  the  well- 
affected  Irish  to  an  interview  on  the  Rathmore,  at  Mulloghmas- 
ton ;  engaging,  at  the  same  time,  for  their  security,  and  that  no 
evil  was  intended.  In  consequence  of  this  engagement,  the  well- 
affected  came  to  the  Rathmore  aforesaid,  and  soon  after  they 
were  assembled,  they  found  themselves  surrounded  by  three  or 
four  lines  of  English  and  Irish  horse  and  foot,  completely  ac- 
coutred, by  whom  they  were  ungenerously  attacked  and  cut  to 
pieces;  and  not  a  single  man  escaped.'  " 

Curry  continues: 

"To  this  massacre,  the  Memorialist  before  mentioned,  prob- 
ably alluded,  when  he  complained,  '  That  her  Majesty's  servants, 
who  were  placed  in  authority,  to  protect  men  for  her  service,  had 
drawn  unto  them,  by  such  protection,  three  or  four  hundred  of 
the  Irish,  under  colour  to  serve  her  Majesty;  and  brought  them 
to  a  place  of  meeting,  where  her  garrison-soldiers  were  appointed 
to  be;  who  then,  most  dishonourably,  put  them  all  to  the  sword. 
This  adds  he,  was  done  by  the  consent,  and  practice,  of  the  Lord 
Deputy  for  the  time  being.'  " 

Leland  justly  states  ' : 

"  Such  relations  would  be  more  suspicious,  if  these  annals  in 
general  expressed  great  virulence  against  the  English  and  their 
government.  But  they  do  not  appear  to  differ  essentially  from 
the  printed  histories,  except  in  the  minuteness  with  which  they 
record  the  local  transactions  and  adventures  of  the  Irish  &c." 

'  The  History  of  Ireland,  etc.,  Thos.  Leland,  D.D.,  Dublin,  1773,  vol.  ii., 
p.  258,  note. 


Wholesale  Confiscation  of  Land  65 

In  this  connection  we  find  in  the  Annals  of  the  Kingdom 
of  Ireland  for  the  year  1 574 ' : 

"  Peace,  sociahty  and  friendship,  were  estabhshed  between 
Brian,  the  Son  of  Fehn  Bacach  O'Neil  and  the  Earl  of  Essex; 
and  a  feast  was  afterwards  prepared  by  Brian,  to  which  the  Lord 
Justice  and  the  Chiefs  of  his  people  were  invited;  and  they  passed 
three  nights  and  days  together  pleasantly  and  cheerfully. 

"At  the  expiration  of  this  time,  however,  as  they  were  agree- 
ably drinking  and  making  merry,  Brian,  his  brother  and  his  wife, 
were  seized  upon  by  the  Earl,  and  all  his  people  put  unsparingly 
to  the  sword,''  men,  women,  youths  and  maidens  in  Brian's  own 
presence.  Brian  was  afterwards  sent  to  Dublin,  together  with 
his  wife  and  brother,  where  they  were  cut  in  quarters.  Such  was 
the  end  of  their  feast.  This  unexpected  massacre,  this  wicked 
and  treacherous  murder  of  the  Lord  of  the  race  of  Hugh  Boy 
O'Neil,  the  Head  and  the  senior  of  the  race  of  Eoghan,  Son  of 
Niall  of  the  Nine  Hostages  and  of  all  the  Gaels,  a  few  only  ex- 
cepted, was  a  sufficient  cause  of  hatred  and  disgust  (of  the  Eng- 
hsh)  to  the  Irish." 

We  resume  the  description  quoted  from  Lecky's  history': 

"In  Munster,  after  Desmond's  rebellion,  more  than  574,000 
acres  were  confiscated  and  passed  into  English  hands.  One  of 
the  conditions  of  the  grants  was  that  none  of  the  native  Irish 
should  be  permitted  among  the  tenantry  of  the  new  proprietors. 
It  was  intended  to  sweep  those  who  had  survived  the  war  com- 
pletely from  the  whole  of  this  enormous  territory,  &c. 

' '  The  suppression  of  the  native  race,  in  the  wars  against  Shane 
O'Neil,  Desmond  and  Tyrone,  was  carried  on  with  a  ferocity 
which  surpassed  that  of  Alva  in  the  Netherlands,  and  has  seldom 
been  exceeded  in  the  page  of  history.  Thus  a  deliberate  attempt 
was  made  by  a  servant  of  the  British  government  to  assassinate 

'  O'Donovan's  translation,  Annals  of  the  Kingdom  of  Ireland,  etc.,  second 
edition,  Dublin,  1856,  vol.  v.,  p.  1677. 

^Camden  in  his  Annals,  A.D.  1574,  states  that  Essex  slew  two  hundred  of 
the  Irish  and  took  Brian,  Rory  Oge,  his  brother  and  Brian's  wife. 

^  Lecky,  vol.  i.,  pp.  5,  6,  18  ;  see  also  Leland,  History  of  Ireland,  vol.  ii.,  p. 
257- 

VOL.  I.— 5. 


66  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

in  time  of  peace  the  great  Irish  leader,  Shane  O'Neil,  by  a  pres- 
ent of  poisoned  wine;  and  although  the  attempt  failed  and  the 
assassin  was  detected  and  arrested,  he  was  at  once,  liberated  by  the 
Government.  Essex  accepted  the  hospitality  of  Sir  Brian  O'Neil. 
After  a  banquet,  when  the  Irish  Chief  had  retired  unsuspiciously 
to  rest,  the  English  general  surrounded  the  house  with  soldiers, 
captured  his  host  with  his  wife  and  brother,  sent  them  to  Dublin 
for  execution,  and  massacred  the  whole  body  of  his  friends  and 
retainers.  An  English  officer,  a  friend  of  the  Viceroy,  invited 
seventeen  Irish  gentlemen  to  supper,  and  when  they  rose  from 
the  table  had  them  all  stabbed.  A  Catholic  archbishop,  named 
Hurley,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  English  authorities,  and  before 
they  sent  him  to  the  gallows  they  tortured  him  to  extort  confession 
of  treason  by  one  of  the  most  horrible  torments  human  nature 
can  endure — by  roasting  his  feet  with  fire. 

"  The  war,  as  conducted  by  Carew,  by  Gilbert,  by  Pelham  and 
by  Mountjoy,  was  literally  a  war  of  extermination.  The  slaugh- 
ter of  Irishmen  was  looked  upon  as  literally  the  slaughter  of  wild 
beasts.  Not  only  the  men  but  even  the  women  and  children  who 
fell  into  the  hands  of  the  English,  were  deliberately  and  system- 
atically butchered.'  .  .  .  The  pictures  of  the  condition  of 
Ireland  at  this  time  are  as  terrible  as  anything  in  human  history. 
Thus  Spenser,  describing  what  he  had  seen  in  Munster,  tells 
how,  'out  of  every  corner  of  the  woods  and  glens,  they  came 
creeping  forth  upon  their  hands,  for  their  legs  could  not  bear 
them.  They  looked  like  anatomies  of  death;  they  spoke  like 
ghosts  crying  out  of  their  graves;  they  did  eat  the  dead  carrion, 
happy  when  they  could  find  them ;  yea,  and  one  and  another  soon 
after,  inasmuch  as  the  very  carcases  they  spared  not  to  scrape 
out  of  their  graves.'  ^ 

"  The  land  itself,  which  before  these  wars  was  populous,  well 
inhabited,  and  rich  in  all  the  good  blessings  of  God  —  being 
plenteous  of  corn,  full  of  cattle,  well  stored  with  fish  and  other 
good  commodities — is  now  become  ...  so  barren,  both  of 
men  and  beast,  that  whoever  did  travel  from  the  one  end  of  all 
Munster,   even   from   Waterford  to  the   head  of  Smeereweeke, 

'  See  Chronicles  of  Englande,  Scotlande  and  Irelande,  by  Raphael  Holinshed, 
London,  1577,  vol.  vi.,  pp.  427,  430. 
'  Spenser's  State  of  Ireland,  p.  430. 


Attempted  Extermination  67 

which  is  about  six  score  miles,  he  would  not  meet  any  man, 
woman  or  child  saving  in  towns  and  cities;  nor  yet  see  any 
beasts,  but  the  very  wolves,  foxes,  and  others  like  ravening  beasts, 
many  of  them  laie  dead,  being  famished,  and  the  residue  gone 
elsewhere."  ' 

"The  troops  of  Sir  Richard  Percie — 'left  neither  come,  nor 
barn,  nor  house  unburnt  between  Kinsale  and  Ross.'  ^  The 
troops  of  Captain  Harvie  — '  did  the  like  between  Ross  and 
Bantry.'''  The  troops  of  Sir  Charles  Wilmot  entered  without 
resistance  an  Irish  camp,  where  'they  found  nothing  but  hurt 
and  sick  men,  whose  pains  and  lives  by  the  soldiers  were  both 
determined.'  ^ 

"  The  Lord  President,  he  himself  assures  us,  having  heard  that 
the  Munster  fugitives  were  harboured  in  certain  parts  of  that  pro- 
vince, diverted  his  forces  thither,  '  burnt  all  the  houses  and  corn, 
taking  great  preys,  .  .  .  and  harassing  the  country,  killed  all 
mankind  that  were  found  therein.'  From  thence  he  went  to 
other  parts,  where  '  he  did  the  like,  not  leaving  behind  him  man 
or  beast,  corn  or  cattle,  except  such  as  had  been  conveyed  into 
castles.'''  Long  before  the  war  had  terminated,  Elizabeth  was 
assured  that  she  had  little  left  to  reign  over  but  ashes  and  car- 
cases. It  was  boasted  that  in  all  the  wide  territory  of  Desmond 
not  a  town,  castle,  village  or  farmhouse  was  unburnt ;  and  a  high 
English  official,  writing  in  1582,  computed  that  in  six  months, 
more  than  30,000  people  had  been  starved  to  death  in  Munster, 
besides  those  who  were  hung,  or  who  perished  by  the  sword. ^ 
Archbishop  Usher  afterwards  described  how  women  were  accus- 
tomed to  lie  in  wait  for  a  passing  rider,  and  to  rush  out  like 
famished  wolves  to  kill  and  devour  his  horse."  The  slaughter  of 
women  as  well  as  me^,  of  unresisting  peasants  as  well  as  armed 
rebels,  was  openly  avowed  by  the  English  commanders."  * 

"The  Irish  annalists  told,  with  horrible  detail,  how  the  bands 
of  Pelham  and  Ormond  'killed  blind  and  feeble  men,  women,  boys 

'  Holinshed,  vol.  vi.,  p.  459. 

^  Pacata  Hibernia  (ed.  1820),  pp.  189,  190,  645,  646,  659  ;  see  also  Leland's 
History  of  Ireland,  vol.  ii.,  p.  287. 

^  Froude's  History  of  England,  vol.  x.,  p.  603. 

*  Bernard's  Life  of  Usher  (1656),  p.  67. 

*  Froude's  History  of  England,  vol.  x. 


68  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

and  girls,  sick  persons,  idiots,  and  old  people  ' ' ;  how  in  Des- 
mond's country,  even  after  all  resistance  had  ceased,  soldiers 
forced  men  and  women  into  old  barns  which  were  set  on  fire,  and 
if  any  attempted  to  escape  they  were  shot  or  stabbed;  how 
soldiers  were  seen  '  to  take  up  infants  on  the  point  of  their 
spears,  and  to  whirl  them  about  in  their  agony.' 

"  In  the  single  county  of  Tyrone  3,000  persons  in  a  few  months 
were  starved.  On  one  occasion  Sir  Arthur  Chichester,  with  some 
other  English  officers,  saw  three  small  children — the  eldest  not 
above  ten  years  old — feeding  off  the  flesh  of  their  starved  mother. 
At  last  hunger  and  the  sword  accomplished  their  work ; 
Tyrone  bowed  his  head  before  the  storm,  and  English  ascendency 
was  supreme." 

O' Donovan  states*: 

"At  this  period  it  was  commonly  said,  that  the  lowing  of  a  cow, 
or  the  voice  of  the  ploughman,  could  scarcely  be  heard  from  Dun- 
Caoin  (now  DunQueen,  the  most  western  part  of  Kerry)  to  Cashel 
in  Munster. " 

Later  the  same  authority  records  ' : 

"  Montjoy  boasts,  in  a  letter  to  the  Lords  in  England,  dated 
1 2th  September,  1602,  that  he  had  brought  the  country  of  Tyrone 
to  such  a  state  of  famine,  by  destroying  the  corn,  'That  O'Hagan 
protested,  that  between  Tullogh  Oge  and  Toome,  there  lay  un- 
buried  a  thousand  dead  and  that  since  our  drawing  this  year  to 
Blackwater,  there  were  about  three  thousand  starved  in  Tyrone. ' 
(B.  iii.,  c.  I.)  Moryson*  gives  a  horrible  account  of  the  famine 
which  the  English  caused  in  Ireland,  '  By  destroying  the  rebels 
corn  and  using  all  means  to  famish  them  ' ;  but  the  examples  he 

^Annals  of  the  Four  Masters,  vol.  v.,  p.  1731,  a.d.  1580, 

'^  Ibid.,  vol.  v.,  p.  1705. 

^ Ibid.,  vol.  vi.,  p.  2348. 

*'A  History  of  Ireland  for  the  Years  i^gq  to  i6oj,  etc.,  Dublin,  1735,  vol. 
ii.,  pp.  283,  284.  His  Ten  Years'  Travell,  etc.,  was  published  in  1617.  In 
1735  the  second  part  of  his  Travells  was  translated  from  the  Latin  and  was 
published  as  a  History  of  Ireland,  etc.  Moryson  wrote  entirely  from  an  Eng- 
lish standpoint  and  it  is  not  probable  that  he  exaggerated  the  condition  in 
Ireland  produced  by  the  English. 


Persecution  of  Catholics  69 

adduces  to  shew  the  miserable  state  to  which  the  poor  people 
were  brought,  are  too  horrible  and  disgusting  to  be  quoted  here. 
He  remarks  generally: 

*'  '  No  spectacle  was  more  frequent  in  the  ditches  of  towns  and 
especially  in  wasted  countries,  than  to  see  multitudes  of  these 
poor  people  dead,  with  their  mouths  all  colored  green  by  eating 
nettles,  docks  and  all  things  they  could  rend  up  above  ground. 
These  and  very  many  like  lamentable  effects,  followed  their 
rebellion,  and,  no  doubt,  the  rebels  had  been  utterly  destroyed 
by  famine,  had  not  a  general  peace  shortly  followed  Tyrone's 
submission  (besides  mercy  formerly  extended  to  many  others)  by 
which  the  rebels  had  liberty  to  seek  relief  among  the  subjects  of 
Ireland,  and  to  be  transported  into  England  and  France  &c.'  " 

Battesby  writes  in  reference  to  the  Irish  leaders  in  this 
war  and  the  method  of  conducting  it  by  the  English : 

"To  describe  the  manner  in  which  the  O'Neills  and  the  O'Don- 
nells,  the  O'Rourkes  and  the  O'Connors,  were  deprived  of  their 
lives,  or  their  estates,  would  alone  swell  a  volume  too  dreadful  to 
publish  or  even  to  read." 

During  the  war  the  Catholic  clergy  had  been  hunted  as 
wild  beasts  and  had  been  put  to  death  as  soon  as  captured 
and  the  Catholic  churches  were  all  burned. 

The  Abb^  MacGeoghegan  wrote  ' : 

"  Queen  Elizabeth  desired  nothing  more  ardently  than  to 
extend  the  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction,  and  to  rule  over  the  church 
in  this  country,  as  she  did  in  England.  The  English  government 
adopted  every  measure  likely  to  advance  her  views.  For  this 
they  took  care  to  send  over  English  conformists,  attached  to  the 
opinions  of  the  court ;  on  v/hom  the  bishoprics  and  other  ecclesi- 
astical dignities  were  conferred  according  as  they  expelled  the 
Catholic  ministers.  To  these  bishops  orders  were  given  to  sup- 
press every  Catholic  institution  in  their  several  dioceses,  and  to 
establish  Protestant  free  schools,  under  the  guidance  of  English 
Protestants,  in  order  that  the  minds  of  youth  while  most  sus- 
ceptible to  strong  impressions  might  be  seduced.     (Irish  Stat., 

'  Pp.  469,  476. 


JO  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

page  346.)  Laws  were  enacted  compelling  parents  to  send  their 
children  to  these  schools,  and  to  attend  the  Protestant  service 
themselves  on  Sundays.  These  laws  also  decreed  pecuniary- 
fines  against  all  who  refused,  which  were  changed  afterwards  into 
the  penalties  of  high  treason,  so  that  by  acts  of  Parliament,  the 
fidelity  and  attachment  of  the  Catholics  to  the  religion  of  their 
forefathers,  were  construed  into  this  enormous  crime.  Every  in- 
dividual, both  of  the  clergy  and  laity,  was  commanded  to  acknow- 
ledge the  ecclesiastical  supremacy  of  Elizabeth  and  to  renounce 
all  obedience  to  the  Pope  and  church  of  Rome.  (Peter  Lom- 
bard, Comment,  de  lib.  c.  19.)  .  .  .  The  attachment  of  the 
Irish  to  the  Catholic  religion  has  been  unexampled.  Notwith- 
standing the  severe  laws  that  were  enacted  by  Henry  VIIL, 
Edward  VL,  and  Elizabeth,  down  to  the  accession  of  James  I., 
it  is  well  established  truth,  that  during  that  period  the  number  of 
Irish  who  embraced  the  reformed  religion  did  not  amount  to 
sixty,  in  a  country  which  at  the  time  contained  two  millions  of 
souls." 

Great  was  the  suffering  of  the  Irish  people  who  opposed 
the  English  forces  during  the  reigns  of  Elizabeth  and  Henry 
VIII.  But  no  pretext  was  made  on  the  part  of  the  English 
to  cdnciliate  and,  while  their  measures  of  warfare  were  brutal 
in  the  extreme,  the  strife  was  conducted  with  an  uncom- 
promising spirit  on  both  sides. 

James  L,  in  the  early  part  of  his  reign,  was  supposed  by 
the  Irish  people,  as  well  as  by  the  English  Catholics,  to  be 
secretly  tolerant  at  least  to  the  practice  of  the  Catholic  re- 
ligion. They  had  good  reason  to  believe  that  such  was  the 
case  and  in  proof  it  is  claimed  that  the  evidence  is  still  in 
existence  among  the  Spanish  archives  to  prove  that  the  con- 
templated marriage  between  his  son  Charles  and  the  daugh- 
ter of  Philip  of  Spain  rested  on  a  secret  treaty,  in  which 
James  pledged  his  word  to  return  to  the  Catholic  faith,  in 
which  he  was  born  and  baptized,  and  that  his  son  and  the 
other  members  of  his  family  would  before  the  marriage  take 
the  same  step. 

Charles  became  affianced  and,  while  on  a  visit  to  the  Span- 


Effort  to  Exterminate  Catholics  71 

ish  Court,  a  member  of  his  suite  who  was  an  Irish  Catholic 
of  position  and  bearing  the  name  of  Washington  '  became 
suddenly  ill.  It  has  been  stated  on  the  authority  of  a  re- 
cently published  diary  of  a  priest  who  was  present  that 
Washington  while  on  his  death-bed  wished  for  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  rites  of  the  Church  and  that  the  admittance  of 
the  priest  was  forcibly  opposed  by  some  non-Catholic  mem- 
ber of  Charles's  retinue  and,  in  consequence  of  this  quarrel 
and  scandal,  the  proposed  marriage  was  annulled  by  Philip. 
Soon  after  this  incident  James  changed  his  policy  in  Ireland 
and  began  to  take  possession  of  Ulster  to  form  a  plantation 
by  the  entire  change  of  its  population.  The  details  of  this 
movement  the  reader  can  readily  obtain  from  any  historical 
work  on  Ireland,  as  no  English  authority  has  attempted 
any  distortion  of  the  facts,  which  have  been  accepted  gener- 
ally as  rather  creditable.  Tyrone,  Tyrconnell  and  other 
leaders  were  robbed  of  some  five  hundred  thousand  acres 
and  six  counties  were  forfeited  to  the  Crown  in  eight  days. 
Three  hundred  and  eighty-five  thousand  Irish  acres  were 
divided  up  among  those  in  sympathy  with  English  rule, 
after  the  great  portion  of  the  original  owners  had  been  put 
to  the  sword. 

We  will  now  take  into  consideration  the  so-called  rebellion 
of  1 641. 

When  it  became  evident  to  the  English  Government  that 
the  Irish  under  no  circumstances  would  abandon  the  faith 

'  This  Washington  was  well  known  at  the  English  Court  and  was  a  friend  of 
Lord  Baltimore,  who  was  an  Irishman,  and  of  William  Penn,  who  lived  many 
years  in  Ireland  before  he  became  a  Quaker.  Washington's  son  reached  man- 
hood about  the  time  of  the  strife  in  Ireland  during  the  reign  of  Charles  when, 
as  will  be  shown,  many  of  the  Catholics  were  obliged  to  flee  from  the  country. 
This  young  man  at  that  time  disappeared  and  probably  made  his  way  to  Vir- 
ginia or  to  Maryland  and  may  have  been  the  ancestor  of  General  Washington, 
as  it  has  been  claimed  that  the  last  member  of  the  English  family  died  almost 
ten  years  before  the  settlement  of  Jamestown,  Va.  For  centuries  past  the 
name  of  Washington  has  existed  in  Ireland.  See  The  Irish  Washingtons  at 
Home  and  Abroad,  together  with  some  mention  of  the  Ancestry  of  the  American 
Pater  Patrice,  by  George  Washington,  of  Dublin,  Ireland,  and  Thomas 
Hamilton  Murray,  Boston,  Mass.     Boston  :   The  CarroUton  Press,  1898. 


72  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

of  their  forefathers,  a  deliberate  effort  was  made  to  exter- 
minate the  Catholics  and  their  lands  were  seized  and  con- 
fiscated by  the  British  Crown. 

In  this  war  for  the  first  time  the  English  had  no  Catholic 
allies,  as  all  of  that  faith  in  Ireland  were  forced  to  unite  in 
arms  to  escape  extermination. 

Charles  I.  of  England  was  the  most  active  spirit  and,  if  ever 
a  man  richly  deserved  his  fate  through  retributive  justice, 
Charles  rightly  suffered.  If,  for  no  other  cause,  his  in- 
human treatment  or  neglect  of  the  Irish  people,  who  had 
been  most  loyal  to  him,  would  have  justified  his  execution. 
No  historical  event  which  antedates  the  testimony  of  living 
witnesses  can  be  more  clearly  established  in  all  its  details 
than  the  history  of  the  forced  outbreak  of  the  Irish  people 
in  1641  and  this  can  be  done  notwithstanding  that  there 
are  few  instances  in  history  which  have  been  more  distorted 
by  falsehood. 

When  Charles  on  the  death  of  his  father,  James  I.,  be- 
came King  of  Ireland,  the  Catholic  portion  of  the  Irish 
people  showed  him  more  loyalty  than  he  received  from  his 
British  subjects. 

During  the  early  part  of  his  reign  the  Irish  people  were 
more  than  generous  in  furnishing  him  with  money,  supplies 
and  soldiers  and  he  in  return  violated  his  promises  to  them 
in  every  instance.  Hallam  in  this  connection  states ' : 
".  .  .  Charles,  in  truth,  showing  a  most  selfish  indif- 
ference to  anything  but  his  own  revenue  and  a  most  dis- 
honourable unfaithfulness  to  his  word." 

One  of  the  most  grievous  causes  of  complaint  at  his 
period  was  due  to  the  uncertainty  of  title  to  all  landed 
property  in  the  south  and  west  of  Ireland,  which  con- 
dition had  resulted  from  a  most  absurd  claim  held  by  the 
English  Government  for  the  Crown.  During  the  reign  of 
James  a  large  sum  had  been  paid  by  the  Irish  owners  to 
have  a  systematic  investigation  of  each  title  and  a  record 

'  The  Constitutional  History  of  England,  etc.,  by  Henry  Hallam,  etc.,  Lon- 
don, 1855,  vol.  iii.,  p.  386. 


Lord  Deputy  Strafford  73 

made  to  that  effect  by  the  Government ;  and  at  this  time 
many  individuals  compromised  by  paying  large  sums  to 
remove  the  claimed  lien  upon  their  property.  But  after 
Charles  became  King  it  was  discovered  that  James  had  ap- 
parently applied  this  money  to  his  personal  use  or  at  least 
that  no  record  in  some  sections  existed  of  the  transaction 
between  the  Government  and  the  Catholic  Irish  land-hold- 
ers ;  while  the  titles  of  the  Protestant  owners,  it  was  held, 
had  been  perfected  and  so  recorded. 
According  to  Carte ' : 

"  This  defect  was  supplied  in  the  thirteenth  year  of  King  James 
when  a  new  commission  was  issued  to  receive  the  surrender  of 
their  several  estates,  and  to  pass  unto  them  and  their  heirs  letters 
patent  for  their  respective  lands  to  be  holden  on  the  crown,  as 
of  the  Castle  of  Athlone  by  Knights'  service;  the  surrenders  were 
accordingly  made,  and  patents  passed  to  them  under  the  broad 
seal;  but  neither  of  these  were  enrolled  in  Chancery.  This  ren- 
dered all  their  titles  defective,  and  the  lands  remaining  still  vested 
in  the  crown,  it  was  proposed  to  make  such  a  plantation  there  as 
had  been  made  in  Ulster.  The  omission  was  not  so  much  the 
wilful  default  of  the  subject,  as  the  neglect  of  a  clerk  intrusted 
by  them;  for  they  had  paid  near  three  thousand  pounds  to  the 
officers  at  Dublin  for  enrolment  to  these  surrenders  and  patents, 
which  were  never  made.  .  .  .  And  they  had  paid  great  sums 
of  money  for  it  into  the  Exchequer  &c." 

For  another  liberal  consideration  Charles  agreed  to  grant 
certain  "graces"  and  to  have  these  titles  of  the  Catholic 
owners  definitely  settled  and,  with  the  ostensible  purpose  of 
carrying  out  this  agreement,  a  commission  was  appointed. 
But  the  fact  is  now  clearly  established  that  the  chief  object 
of  the  commission  was  to  obtain  some  pretext  for  a  general 
confiscation  of  the  land  and  to  make  a  "plantation"  of 
Connaught  after  the  people  had  been  disposed  of. 

Thomas,  Earl  of  Strafford,  afterwards  Lord  Wentworth 

'  The  Life  of  James,  Duke  of  Ormojid,  etc.,  by  Thomas  Carte,  Oxford, 
1851,  vol.  i.,  p.  96. 


74  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

and  the  Lord  Deputy  of  Ireland,  was  Charles's  adviser  and, 
in  common  with  his  master,  was  to  be  greatly  benefited. 
Leland  states ' : 

'  ''His project  was  nothing  less  than  to  subvert  the  title  to  every  estate 
in  every  part  of  Connaught  and  to  establish  a  new  plantation 
through  this  whole  province;  a  project  which,  when  first  pro- 
posed in  the  late  reign,  was  received  with  horrour  and  amaze- 
ment, but  which  suited  the  undismayed  and  enterprising  genius 
of  Lord  Wentworth.  For  this  he  had  opposed  the  confirmation 
of  the  royal  graces,  transmitted  to  Lord  Faulkland,  and  taken  to 
himself  the  odium  of  so  flagrant  a  violation  of  the  royal  promise. 
The  parliament  was  at  an  end;  and  the  Deputy  at  leisure  to 
execute  a  scheme,  which,  as  it  was  offencive  and  alarming,  re- 
quired a  cautious  and  deliberate  procedure.  Old  records  of 
State  and  the  memorials  of  ancient  Monasteries,  were  ransacked, 
to  ascertain  the  King's  original  title  to  Connaught.  It  was  soon 
discovered,  that  in  the  Grant  of  Henry  the  Third,  to  Richard  de 
Burgo,  five  cantreds  were  reserved  to  the  crown,  adjacent  to  the 
Castle  of  Athlone ;  that  this  grant  included  the  whole  remainder  of 
the  Province^  which  was  now  alleged  to  have  been  forfeited  by 
Aedh  O'Connor,  the  Irish  provincial  chieftain;  that  the  land  and 
lordship  of  De  Burgo  descended  lineally  to  Edward  the  Fourth; 
and  were  confirmed  to  the  crown  by  a  statute  of  Henry  the 
Seventh." 

At  this  period  the  Catholics  held  nine-tenths  of  the  landed 
property  of  that  portion  of  Ireland  and  the  number  of  the 
Irish  population  bore  about  the  same  relation  to  the  English 
settlers.  This  commission  in  Ireland  was  instructed  to  have 
the  most  wealthy  persons  in  the  community  selected  to 
serve  on  the  juries  and  in  case  th.ey  prevaricated,  or  did  not 
decide  for  the  King,  they  were  to  be  heavily  fined  to  bankrupt 
and  to  remain  in  prison  witil  they  were  willing  to  sue  for 
pardon  on  their  knees  for  having  perjured  themselves  contrary 
to  the  evidence. 

The  owner  of  an  estate  was  generally  selected  to  act  as 

'  Vol.  iii.,  p.  30. 


Confiscation  of  Connaught  75 

foreman  of  the  jury  which  was  to  decide  on  his  own  title 
but  in  every  instance  where  the  title  was  given  in  favor  of 
the  owner  he  was  imprisoned,  the  property  confiscated  to 
the  Crown  and  the  jurors  heavily  fined  and  also  imprisoned. 
Strafford  wrote ' : 

"  Before  my  coming  from  Dublin  I  had  given  order,  that  the 
gentlemen  of  the  best  estates  and  understandings  should  be  re- 
turned, which  was  done  accordingly,  as  you  will  find  by  their 
names.  My  reason  was,  that  being  a  leading  case  for  the  whole 
Province,  it  would  set  a  great  value  in  their  estimation  upon  the 
goodness  of  the  King's  title,  being  found  by  persons  of  their 
qualities,  and  as  much  concerned  in  their  own  particulars  as  any 
other.  Again,  finding  the  evidence  so  strong,  as  unless  they  went 
against  it,  they  must  pass  for  the  King,  I  resolved  to  have  persons 
of  such  means  as  might  answer  the  King  a  round  fine  in  the  Castle- 
chamber  in  case  they  should  prevaricate,  who,  in  all  seeming,  even 
out  of  that  reason,  would  be  more  fearful  to  tread  shamefully  and 
impudently  aside  from  the  truth,  than  such  as  had  less  or  nothing 
to  lose." 

The  vein  of  quiet  humor  exhibited  in  this  statement  of 
the  situation  is  very  Irish  but  somewhat  out  of  place  in  an 
Englishman.  The  following  quotation  shows  that  Strafford, 
while  not  an  honest  man,  had  at  least  some  knowledge  of 
the  weakness  of  human  nature.     He  wrote': 

"  Your  Majesty  was  graciously  pleased  upon  my  humble  advice 
to  bestow  four  shillings  in  the  pound  upon  your  lord  chief  justice 
and  lord  chief  baron  in  this  Kingdom,  forth  of  the  first  yearly 
rent  raised  upon  the  commission  of  defective  titles,  which,  upon 
observation  /  find  to  be  the  best  given  that  ever  was ;  For  now 
they  do  intend  it  with  care  and  diligence  such  as  were  it  their  own 
private.  And  most  certain  the  gaining  to  themselves  every  four 
shillings  ofice  paid  shall  better  your  revenue  for  ever  after  at  least 
five  pounds. ''' 

'  State  Papers  and  Despatches  of  Thomas  Wentworth,  Earl  of  Strafford, 
collected  by  Rev.  Wm.  Knowler,  Dublin,  1739,  ^o^-  ii-.  P-  339- 
^Vol.  ii.,  p.  41. 


76  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

With  the  incentive  of  the  bribe  of  four  shillings  in  the 
pound  the  Lord  Chief  Justice  and  his  colleague  did  what 
was  expected  of  them  in  finding  every  title  defective. 

The  majority  of  writers  do  not  hold  Charles  fully  respon- 
sible for  the  rebellion  of  1641  and  its  consequences.  While 
it  is  quite  probable  that  he  had  not  the  mental  capacity  for 
originating  or  developing  the  plan  of  making  a  "plantation" 
of  Connaught,  he  certainly  acquiesced  in  every  suggestion 
made  by  his  Deputy,  Strafford,  where  it  could  be  shown 
that  he  was  to  receive  benefit.  His  excessive  avarice,  his 
egotism  and  his  lack  of  appreciation  of  any  moral  obligation 
to  carry  out  the  most  solemn  pledge  made  him  a  credulous 
dupe.  Yet,  he  was  crafty  and  could  appreciate  fully  the 
advantages  of  any  move  which  would  be  likely  to  prove 
of  pecuniary  profit  to  himself.  While  Wentworth,  as  his 
Deputy,  and  others  connected  with  the  Irish  Government 
may,  toward  the  end,  have  slighted  his  authority  and  in- 
trigued with  the  Puritan  party  in  England,  yet  Charles  as 
the  instigator  should  be  held  none  the  less  responsible  for 
the  results.  If  he  were  proved  innocent  of  every  other 
charge,  the  odium  would  still  remain  that  he  certainly 
entered  fully  into  the  plan  of  others  to  exterminate  the 
entire  Catholic  population  of  Ireland  that  the  Crown  might 
thus  inherit  their  lands. 

From  the  writings  of  Leland,  Clarendon,  Warner  and 
Carte  it  is  clearly  shown  that  there  existed  a  determined 
purpose  to  exterminate  the  Irish  Catholics.  And  yet  the 
English  people  will  accept  with  pious  horror  the  fabled  or 
perverted  account  of  the  massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew's 
day  in  France  and  do  so  with  the  conviction  that  it  was 
authorized  by  the  Catholic  Church,  while  they  will  remain 
indifferent  to  the  truth  of  the  suffering  and  persecution  of 
the  Catholics  in  Ireland  during  centuries. 

Leland  states ' : 

"  The  favourite  object,  both  of  the  Irish  governours  and  the 
English  parliament,  was  the  utter  extermination  of  all  the  Catholic 
^  Leland,  vol.  iii..  p.  166. 


The  "Rebellion"  of  1641  "]"] 

inhabitants  in  Ireland.  Their  estates  were  already  marked  out, 
and  allotted  to  their  conquerours;  so  that  they  and  their  posterity 
were  consigned  to  inevitable  ruin." 

A  statement  made  by  Clarendon  is  ' : 

"  The  parliament  party,  who  had  heaped  so  many  reproaches 
and  calumnies  upon  the  King,  for  his  clemency  to  the  Irish,  had 
grounded  their  own  authority  and  strength  upon  such  foundations 
as  were  inconsistent  with  any  toleration  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
religion;  and  even  with  any  humanity  to  the  Irish  nation,  and 
more  especially  to  those  of  the  old  native  extraction,  the  ivhole 
race  whereof  they  had  upon  the  ^natter  sworn  to  Extirpate,  Etc." 

Warner  writes  * : 

"  It  is  evident  from  their  (the  lords  justices)  last  letter  to  the 
lieutenant,  that  they  hoped  for  an  Extirpation.,  not  of  the  mere 
Irish  only.,  but  of  all  the  old  English  families  that  were  Roman 
Catholics. 

Carte  states ' : 

"  But  if  it  be  more  needful  to  dispose  of  places  out  of  hand, 
and  that  it  may  stand  with  his  Majesty's  pleasure  to  fill  some  of 
them  with  Irish  that  are  Protestants,  and  that  have  not  been  for  the 
Extirpation  of  the  Papist  natives,  it  will  much  satisfy  both,  and 
cannot  be  excepted  against." 

Carte  also  states  * : 

"  Indeed  there  is  too  much  reason  to  think,  that  as  the  lords 
justices  really  wished  the  rebellion  to  spread,  and  more  gentlemen 
of  estates  to  be  involved  in  it,  that  the  forfeitures  might  be  greater, 
and  a  general  plantation  to  be  carried  on  by  a  new  set  of  English 

'  Edward,  Earl  of  Clarendon,  History  of  the  Rebellion  and  Civil  Wars  in 
Ireland,  etc.,  Oxford,  1843,  vol.  i.,  p.  115. 

^  A  History  of  the  Rebellion  and  Civil  War  of  Ireland,  by  Ferdinand© 
Warner,  London,  1768,  p.  176. 

^  Life  of  fames,  Duke  of  Ormond,  etc.,  vol.  vi.,  p.  7. 

^ Ibid,,  vol.  ii.,  p.  145  ;  see  also  p.  90. 


78  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

Protestants,  all  over  the  Kingdom,  to  the  ruin  and  expulsion  of  all 
the  old  English  and  natives  that  were  Ro7nan  Catholics  j  so  to  pro- 
mote what  they  wished,  they  gave  out  speeches  upon  occasions, 
insinuating  such  a  design,  and  that  in  a  short  time  there  would  not 
be  a  Roman  Catholic  left  in  the  Kingdom.  It  is  no  small  con- 
firmation of  this  notion  that  the  Earl  of  Ormond,  in  his  letters  of 
January  27th,  and  February  25th,  1641,  to  Sir  W.  St.  Leger,  im- 
putes the  general  revolt  of  the  nation,  then  far  advanced,  to  the 
publishing  of  such  a  design;  etc.  ...  I  do  not  find  that 
the  copies  of  these  letters  are  preserved;  but  the  original  of  Sir 
W.  St.  Leger' s  in  answer  to  them  sufficiently  shows  it  to  be  his 
lordship's  opinion;  for,  after  acknowledging  the  receipt  of  those 
two  letters,  he  wrote  these  words: — '  The  undue  promulgation  of 
that  severe  determination  to  Extirpate  the  Irish  and  Papacy  out 
of  this  Kingdom  your  lordship  rightly  apprehands  to  be  too  un- 
reasonably published,'  &c." 

IN  OTHER  WORDS,  THE  SOURCE  OF  REGRET  WAS  ONLY 
DUE  TO  THE  FACT  THAT  THE  PURPOSE  OF  THE  ENGLISH 
GOVERNMENT  BECAME  GENERALLY  KNOWN  TOO  SOON, 
AND  IN  TIME  FOR  THE  IRISH  PEOPLE,  BY  UNITING,  TO 
MAKE  SOME  EFFORT  IN  SELF-DEFENCE. 

The  more  prominent  Irish  chiefs,  with  the  Catholic 
Lords  of  the  Pale  and  the  Bishops  throughout  Ireland,  met 
together  at  Kilkenny  to  decide  upon  some  plan  of  defence 
for  their  mutual  protection.  They  then  formed  what  was 
termed  the  "Confederation  of  Kilkenny,"  issued  the  Re- 
monstrance of  the  Catholics  of  Ireland,  delivered  to  his 
Majesty's  Commissioners,  at  Trym,  17th  of  March,  1642,' 
and  inaugurated  what  has  been  claimed  to  be  one  of  the 
boldest  efforts  for  civil  and  religious  liberty  known  in  the 
history  of  Ireland. 

'  See  Appendix,  note  4  in  abstract,  and  Plowden,  vol.  i..  Appendix,  p.  81, 
and  other  authorities  for  this  document  in  full,  giving  the  condition  of  the 
Catholics  in  Ireland  at  this  period.  It  is  a  remarkable  and  valuable  State 
paper  in  which  the  Irish  Committee,  with  a  full  appreciation  of  the  grievous 
wrongs  inflicted  upon  the  country,  cite  them  in  detail  and  in  a  most  temperate 
manner. 


CHAPTER   IV 

GENERAL  CONFISCATION  PLANNED  BEFORE  THE  WAR — 
clarendon's  STATEMENT  AND  OTHERS  AS  TO  THE 
ORIGIN  OF  THE  CIVIL  WAR — ENGLISH  METHOD  OF 
ACQUIRING  TITLE  TO  THE  LANDS  —  SUFFERING  OF 
THE  PEOPLE  NEVER  EQUALLED  —  APPEAL  OF  THE 
CATHOLICS  TO  CHARLES  I.  TOO  LATE 

It  is  known  that  extensive  preparation  for  a  general  con- 
fiscation had  been  planned  in  England  two  months  before 
the  uprising  in  Ireland  had  been  general.  The  organiza- 
tion was  completed  about  four  months  after  the  worthy  (! ) 
Owen  O'Conally  had  testified  to  the  existence  of  a  plot 
formed  by  the  people  of  Ireland  "to  destroy  all  the  English 
inhabiting  there,"  a  statement  which  the  most  credulous 
did  not  believe  to  be  true.  Yet  on  O'Conally's  testimony, 
as  the  fabrication  was  termed,  the  so-called  historians  of  the 
day  based  a  vindication  for  the  extreme  measures  resorted 
to  by  the  English  company  of  "Adventurers"  formed  in 
London  for ' '  the  work  of  reducing  the  Kingdom  of  Ireland, ' ' 
who  were  to  be  indemnified  "on  the  forfeiture  of  the 
whole  Island,  except  what  belonged  to  the  Protestants."  * 

'  The  following  is  taken  from  the  Preface,  p.  6,  of  Mathew  Carey's  Vindicice 
Hibernicce,  etc.  :  "  The  Rev.  Mr.  Lingard,  a  Roman  Catholic  historian,  has, 
through  the  most  culpable  neglect,  lent  the  sanction  of  his  name  to  one  of  the 
most  stupid  and  bare-faced  impostures,  that  ever  disgraced  history  ;  That  is  the 
clumsy  fabrications  of  O'Conally,  of  the  pretended  conspiracy  of  the  Irish  in 
1641,  to  murder  all  the  Protestants  that  would  not  join  with  them  ;  a  fabrica- 
tion, the  basis  on  which  rested  the  whole  train  of  frauds  and  perjuries,  and 
forgeries,  by  which  two-thirds,  if  not  three-fourths,  of  all  the  profitable  lands 
of  Ireland  were  confiscated,  and  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  of  the  Irish 

79 


8o  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

They  presented  an  address  to  Parliament  on  February  i, 
1641-42,  which  was  entered  on  the  minutes,'  as  a  "Proposi- 
tion made  by  divers  gentlemen,  citizens  and  others,  for  the 
speedy  and  effectual  reducing  of  the  Kingdom  of  Ireland." 
The  second  proposition  read  : 

"  They  do  conceive,  that  the  work  being  finished,  there  will  be 
in  that  Kingdom,  of  confiscated  lands,  such  as  go  under  the  name 
of  profitable  lands  ten  million  of  acres ^  English  vieastire. ' ' 

The  third  proposition  was : 

"  That  two  millions  and  a  half  of  those  acres,  to  be  equally 
taken  out  of  the  four  provinces,  will  sufficiently  satisfy  those  that 
shall  advance  this  million  of  money." 

As  Ireland  contained  not  more  than  nineteen  millions  of 
acres  and  about  ten  millions  only  of  "profitable  lands,"  it  is 
made  evident  by  this  document,  on  which  the  agreement 
was  made,  that  Parliament  also  had  determined  before- 
hand to  exterminate  the  Irish  Catholics  and  to  confiscate 
the  whole  country. 

According  to  Leland  ' : 

"A  bill  was  framed  for  repaying  those  who  should  advance 
certain  sums,  for  suppressing  of  the  rebels  (as  was  pretended) 
by  vesting  them  with  proportional  estates  in  Ireland,  on  terms 
highly  advantageous  to  a  new  English  plantation.  It  evidently 
tended  to  exasperate  the  malcontents,  and  to  make  all  accom- 
modation desperate,  but  it  was  not  on  this  account  less  acceptable 
to  the  popular  leaders." 

ruined,  exiled  or  executed.  With  pains  hardly  credible — and  research  rarely 
equalled,  and  perhaps  never  exceeded,  I  have  fully  and  irrefragably  disproved 
all  those  calumnies,  and,  mirabile  dictu,  in  almost  every  case,  by  quotations 
from  the  writings  of  the  accusers  and  their  friends.  And  I  have  not  only  done 
this,  but  have  fully  proved,  that  whatever  massacres  were  perpetrated,  were 
on  and  not  by  the  Irish." 

'  Journals  of  the  House  of  Commons,  vol.  ii.,  p.  435. 

^  Vol.  iii.,  p.  162. 


The  Massacre  of  Isle  Magee  8i 

Sir  John  Temple,  in  his  work  on  The  Irish  Rebellion,  per- 
verted the  truth  to  a  greater  extent  than  any  other  writer 
and,  as  he  did  so  in  an  attractive  manner,  his  version  has 
been  generally  accepted.  Temple  charges  the  Irish  people, 
who  were  unarmed  and  who  up  to  that  time  had  been  ap- 
parently most  loyal  to  the  British  Government,  with  having 
perpetrated  a  general  slaughter  at  the  beginning  and  even 
before  the  uprising  had  extended  beyond  Ulster  and  with 
thus  causing  the  death  of  a  greater  number  of  English  people 
than  was  generally  supposed  to  have  been  in  the  whole 
country  at  that  time.*  Most  writers  since  Temple's  time 
have  made  at  least  some  seeming  attempt  to  present  the 
truth  but  on  Hume  must  rest  the  discredit  of  having  drawn 
upon  his  imagination,  in  the  perversion  of  truth  regarding 
Irish  affairs,  to  a  greater  extent  than  any  other  so-called 
historian.  The  Irish  writers  all  agree  with  the  statement 
made  by  Curry  *  and  based  upon  the  following  verbatim 
quotation  from  Clarendon': 

'  'About  the  beginning  of  JVovember  {1641),  the  English  atid  Scots 
forces  in  Cnockfergus  murthered  in  one  night  all  the  inhabitants  of 
the  territory  of  the  Isla?id  Gee,  to  the  number  of  about  three  thousand 
me?t,  women,  and  children,  all  in?iocent persons,  at  a  time  when  none 
of  the  Catholics  in  that  country  were  in  arms,  or  rebellion.  Note : 
that  this  was  the  first  massacre  cojmnitted  in  Ireland  on  either  side. ' ' 

Hallam,  with  his  frequent  lack  of  fairness  from  an  Irish 
Catholic  standpoint,  states*: 

'  See  Appendix,  note  5. 

^Appendix,  No.  vi.,  p.  4og. 

^  Rebellion  in  Ireland,  p.  328.  The  testimony  here  given  by  Clarendon  is  of 
the  greatest  value,  as  throughout  the  work  it  is  shown  his  prejudice  was 
against  the  Irish  people.  The  quotation  given  follows  a  citatory  collection 
from  every  source  of  all  the  crimes  which  were  charged  against  the  Irish  and 
from  an  evident  spirit  of  justice  it  is  preceded  by  the  following  chapter  head- 
ing :  "  y4  collection  of  some  of  the  Massacres  and  Murthers  committed  on  the 
Irish  in  Ireland  since  the  23  of  October,  1641."  A  study  of  this  collection  by 
an  impartial  judge  would  justify  the  retaliation  of  the  Irish  people  even  if 
every  act  charged  against  them  were  proved  to  be  true. 

*  Constitutional  History,  vol.  iii.,  note,  p.  392. 


82  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

"It  has  been  not  unfrequent  with  Catholic  writers  to  allege 
that  3000  Irish  had  been  massacred  by  the  Protestants  in  Isle 
Magee,  near  Carrisfergus,  before  the  rebellion  broke  out.  Curry 
in  his  grossly  unfair  History  of  the  Civil  Wars  and  Plowden  in 
his  not  less  unfair  and  more  superficial  Historical  Revieiv  of  the 
State  of  Ireland  are  among  these ;  the  latter  having  been  misled 
or  affecting  to  be  persuaded,  by  a  passage  in  the  Appendix  to 
Clarendon's  Historical  Account  of  Irish  Affairs,  which  Appendix 
evidently  was  not  written  by  that  historian  himself,  but  subjoined 
by  some  one  to  the  posthumous  work,  &c." 

Both  writers  thus  referred  to  by  Haliam  have  been  con- 
sidered by  students  of  Irish  history  as  reliable  in  their 
statements,  notwithstanding  they  might  differ  from  the  de- 
ductions drawn  by  them.  Haliam,  however,  is  entitled  to 
credit  for  originality,  as  no  one  but  himself,  so  far  as  the 
writer  is  informed,  has  ever  claimed  that  in  Clarendon's 
work  what  Haliam  terms  an  appendix — "evidently  was  not 
written  by  that  historian  himself  &c."  In  the  absence  of 
all  proof  it  is  evident  that  he  might  equally  as  well  have 
designated  any  other  chapter  in  the  work  which  contained 
some  statement  not  in  accord  with  his  prejudices. 

Warner  discredits  the  charge  as  follows ' : 

"  But  as  the  fact  of  so  great  a  massacre  is  strenuously  insisted 
upon,  it  may  be  worth  while  to  examine  its  credibility.  The 
island,  or  rather  the  peninsula  of  Magee,  which  is  artfully  enough 
called  a  territory,  that  the  reader  may  be  led  to  suppose  it  a  large 
district,  capable  of  supporting  a  numerous  race  of  inhabitants,  is 
a  long  narrow  tongue  of  land,  three  miles  in  length  and  at  a 
medium  a  mile  in  breadth,  at  that  time  not  cultivated  and  without 
a  single  town.  If  any  one  can  believe  that  such  a  territory  was 
so  thoroughly  thronged  as  to  contain  above  three  thousand  in- 
habitants, when  the  whole  kingdom  of  Ireland  was  extremely  thin 
in  people,  he  may  believe  it  for  himself,  but  he  should  not  desire 
to  impose  it  upon  other  people.  If  there  is  any  truth  in  the  fact 
of  a  massacre  there,  which  is  very  probable,  it  may  be  confidently 
affirmed  that  it  was  not  the  first  in  Ireland,  nor  in  Ulster,  nor 

'  P.  114. 


The  English  Force  an  Outbreak  83 

before  any  Catholick  of  that  country  had  been  in  arms;  and  it 
may  be  supposed,  in  order  to  reconcile  it  with  probability,  that 
the  number  reported  by  the  author  was  three  hundred,  but  being 
written  in  figures  was  easily  mistaken  in  the  copy  for  three  thou- 
sand." 

Warner  also  states  in  reference  to  the  accounts  given  as 
to  the  number  who  were  massacred:  "It  is  easy  enough 
from  thence  to  demonstrate  the  falsehood  of  the  relation  of 
every  Protestant  historian." 

At  this  day  it  matters  little  who  precipitated  the  conflict 
by  the  first  massacre.  The  one  fact  is  fully  established  that 
in  England  a  war  of  extermination  was  determined  upon  long 
before  the  Irish  had  any  admonition  of  the  coming  storm. 

Warner  is  guilty  of  special  pleading  in  the  impression  he 
endeavors  to  create.  The  country  was  doubtless  thinly 
settled  and  on  this  land  or  peninsula  of  Magee  only  a  few 
families  lived.  But  the  fact  is  frequently  mentioned  that 
for  some  time  before,  at  approaching  danger,  a  large  num- 
ber of  people  had  begun  to  collect  at  this  point  for  safety 
and  that  the  authorities  in  the  neighborhood  had  sent  there 
in  addition  a  number  of  women  and  children  who  were  with- 
out protection.  So  that  even  a  larger  number  of  Irish 
people  might  have  been  collected  at  this  point  early  in  No- 
vember, when  the  massacre  took  place. 

It  was  not  until  the  end  of  December,  1641,  that  the 
people  in  Connaught  rose.     Curry  states  in  addition  ' : 

"  That  the  like  inhuman  treatment  of  the  natives  of  Connaught, 
by  persons  placed  in  authority  there  occasioned  the  first  rise,  and 
subsequently  the  extension  of  the  trouble  in  that  province  appears 
from  the  authentic  testimony  of  the  Earl  of  Clanrickard,  who  was 
Governor  of  Galway  during  the  whole  war." 

There  had  been  in  Ireland  comparative  peace  since  the 
confiscation  of  Ulster  by  James  and  the  people  of  the  north 
and  west  were  engaged  in   their  agricultural  pursuits,   in 

'  P.  147. 


84  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

repairing  their  fortunes  and  in  providing  for  the  support  of 
their  families.  Not  an  overt  act  of  hostiHty  by  the  Irish 
people  had  yet  been  perpetrated  when  the  English  troops 
were  suddenly  quartered  upon  them  with  instructions  to 
force  the  people  to  a  speedy  outbreak. 

Cattle  and  all  available  property  were  seized ;  persons  in 
all  stations  of  life  were  imprisoned  without  charges  preferred 
against  them  or  were  wilfully  murdered  without  provoca- 
tion ;  the  wives  and  daughters  of  the  Irish  were  subjected  to 
unspeakable  brutality;  the  well  and  the  sick,  the  young  and 
the  old  were  indiscriminately  turned  adrift  or  murdered, 
their  houses  burned  and  all  provisions  and  stores  which 
could  not  be  used  by  the  troops  were  wantonly  destroyed. 
In  desperation  a  number  of  Irish  men,  imperfectly  armed 
and  without  leaders,  were  at  length  forced  in  self-defence  to 
offer  resistance  and  to  retaliate.  In  consequence  of  this 
justifiable  retaliation,  the  English  writers  of  history  have 
actually  put  forward  an  cx-post-facto  argument  to  justify 
the  provocation  given  by  the  English  troops.  No  less  than 
three  thousand  heads  of  families,  constituting  the  Catholic 
nobility  and  gentry  and  the  owners  of  the  land  in  the  west 
of  Ireland,  were  imprisoned,  charged  with  treason  and  their 
property  seized.  A  commission  was  formed,  consisting  of 
a  judge  and  juryman,  who  were  supposed  to  have  been 
sworn,  to  investigate  the  charge  of  treason  against  these  in- 
dividuals. Over  one  thousand  indictments,  which  were  in  fact 
bnt  death-warrants  for  many,  were  drawn  up  by  this  commis- 
sion in  two  days,  by  which  each  individual  was  found  guilty 
of  treason,  thus  losing  at  least  his  property,  which  was  seized 
by  the  Crown. 

If  it  be  assumed  that  the  Jury  worked  continuously  each 
day  for  twelve  hours,  the  average  zvoiild  be  two  indictments 
for  every  three  minutes  ;  during  which  time  it  was  supposed 
that  witnesses  duly  sworn  were  examined  as  to  the  guilt  of 
the  accused  and,  after  due  deliberation  and  giving  the 
prisoner  the  benefit  of  all  doubt,  if  the  testimony  was  not 
deemed  reliable  the  jury  was  to  render  a  verdict  accordingly. 


Catholics  Indicted  and  Property  Seized     85 

Is  it  possible  to  conceive  of  a  more  complete  travesty  on 
justice? 

The  prisoners  knew  nothing  of  the  proceedings  and  the 
average  time  of  one  minute  and  a  half  was  scarcely  sufficient 
to  add  the  signatures  necessary  to  give  each  a  semblance 
of  legality.  Under  ordinary  circumstances  the  indictment 
could  not  possibly  fix  the  guilt  of  the  person  indicted.  But 
the  writer  has  found  no  mention  made  of  any  subsequent 
trial  of  these  individuals  for  treason,  while  the  immediate 
seizure  of  their  landed  property  is  clearly  shown.  The  in- 
ference to  be  drawn  is  that,  in  the  disturbed  condition  of  the 
country,  the  pretended  guilt  of  the  owners  was  established 
by  the  act  of  confiscation,  on  the  plea  of  treason,  for  which 
the  immutable  penalty  was  death.  So  that  the  simple 
indictment  seems  to  have  been  literally  their  death-warrant. 

In  a  most  simple-minded  manner,  apparently,  or  else  as  a 
humorist.  Carte  refers  to  this  crime  in  the  following  terms  * : 

"  In  consequence  of  these  examinations,  and  perhaps  of  other 
kind  of  management,  they  had  all  of  them  been  indicted  of  high 
treason ;  their  goods  had  been  wholly  destroyed  and  taken  away 
by  the  rebels  and  soldiers,  and  themselves,  being  denied  the 
favour  of  being  bailed,  were  ready  to  perish  in  prison  for  want  of 
relief.  The  pretence  for  refusing  to  bail  them  was  drawn  from 
indictments  which  had  been  found  against  them,  and  about  a 
thousand  others,  by  a  grand  jury,  in  the  space  of  two  days. 
There  was  certainly  too  much  hurry  in  the  finding  of  these  indict- 
ments (of  which  about  three  thousand  were  on  record)  to  alloiv 
time  for  the  examination  of  each  particular  case^  and  they  were  too 
generally  found  on  vejy  slight  evidence.  The  Roman  Catholics 
complained  that  there  ^vere  strange  practices  used  with  the  jurors, 
menaces  to  some,  promises  of  reward  and  parts  of  the  forfeited  estates 
made  to  others  j  and  though  great  numbers  of  the  indicted  persons 
might  be  really  guilty,  there  was  too  much  reason  given  to  suspect 
the  evidence.  I  am  more  inclined  to  suspect  that  there  was  a  good 
deal  of  corruption  and  iniquity  in  the  methods  of  gaining  these  indict- 
ments, because  I  find  a  very  remarkable  memorandum  made  by 

^  Life  of  Ormond,  etc.,  vol.  ii.,  pp.  466,  467. 


86  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

the  Marquis  of  Ormond,  in  his  own  writing,  of  a  passage  in  the 
council  on  April  23rd,  1643.  There  was  then  a  letter  read  at  the 
board  from  a  person  who  claimed  a  great  merit  to  himself,  in 
getting  some  hundreds  of  gentlemen  indicted,  and  the  rather/^/- 
that  he  had  laid  out  sums  of  money  to  procure  witnesses  to  give  evi- 
dence to  a  fury  for  the  finding  those  indictitients.  This  was  an 
intimate  friend  of  Sir  William  Parsons,  and  might  very  well  know 
that  such  methods  would  be  approved  by  him." 

As  soon  as  the  outbreak  had  been  forced  at  the  north,  an 
order  went  forth  from  the  Government  for  a  war  of  exter- 
mination and  ' '  to  spread  the  dissatisfaction  as  far  as  possible. '' 

Carte  states ' : 

*'  The  lords  justices.  .  .  .  They  would  not  hear  of  any 
cessation  or  treaty  with  the  rebels;  they  absolutely  disliked  his 
lordship's  (Clanrickarde)  receiving  the  submission,  and  granting 
his  protection  to  the  town  of  Galway;  and  sent  him  express 
orders  to  receive  no  more  submissions  from  any  persons  whatever, 
but  to  prosecute  the  rebels  and  their  adherents,  harbourers  and 
relievers,  with  fire  and  sword.  To  prevent  the  like  submissions 
and  protections  in  other  places,  they  issued  out  a  general  order 
to  commanders  of  all  garrisons,  not  to  presume  to  hold  any  corre- 
spondence, treaty,  intelligence,  or  intercourse  with  any  of  the 
Irish  and  Papists  dwelling  or  residing  in  any  place  near  or  about 
their  garrisons,  or  to  give  protection,  immunity,  or  dispensation 
from  spoil,  burning,  or  other  prosecution  of  war  to  any  of  them ; 
but  to  prosecute  all  such  rebels,  harbourers  or  relievers  of  rebels, 
from  place  to  place,  with  fire  and  sword,  according  to  forjner  com- 
mands  and  proclamations  in  that  behalf.  Such  was  the  constant 
tenor  of  their  orders,  though  they  knew  that  the  soldiers  in  exe- 
cuting them  murdered  all  persons  promiscuously,  not  sparing  (as 
they 'told  the  commissioners  for  Irish  affairs)  the  women,  and 
sometimes  not  the  children." 

Clarendon  writes " : 

**  The  parliament  had  some  months  before  made  an  ordinance 
against  giving  quarter  to  any  of  the  Irish  nation  which  should  be 

'  Life  of  Ortnond.  etc.,  vol.  ii.,  pp.  267,  268. 
^  History  of  the  Rebellion,  etc.,  p.  539. 


Six  Hundred  Thousand  Catholics  Killed    ^7 

taken  prisoners,  either  at  sea  or  on  land ;  which  was  not  taken 
notice  of,  or  indeed  known  to  the  King,  till  long  after;  though 
the  Earl  of  Warwick,  and  the  ofificers  under  him  at  sea,  had,  as 
often  as  he  met  with  any  Irish  frigates,  or  such  freebooters  as 
sailed  under  their  commission,  taken  all  the  seamen  who  became 
prisoners  to  them  of  that  nation,  and  bound  them  back  to  back, 
and  thrown  them  overboard  into  the  sea,  without  distinction  of 
their  condition,  if  they  were  Irish.  And  in  this  ba7'barous  manner 
very  7nany  poor  men  perished  daily ^  &c." 

There  were  numerous  instances  on  record  where  Irish 
prisoners,  on  being  tied  together  back  to  back,  were  drowned 
and  thus  disposed  of  by  the  English. 

It  is  stated  by  Plowden  ' : 

"  Sir  William  St.  Leger,  the  President  of  Munster,  committed 
the  most  unprovoked  murders  and  barbarities  throughout  that  pro- 
vince, and  when  the  principal  nobility  and  gentry  remonstrated 
with  him  upon  the  danger  of  their  rising,  he  tauntingly  insulted 
them  all — 'as  rebels,  would  not  trust  one  of  them,  and  thought  it 
most  prudent  to  hang  the  best  of  them.'  ,  .  .  The  particu- 
lar views  for  goading  this  province  into  rebellion,  are  fully  laid 
open  in  Lord  Cork's  letter  to  the  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Com- 
mons in  England,  which  he  sent  together  with  eleven  hundred 
indictments,  against  persons  of  property  in  that  province,  to  have 
them  settled  by  crown  lawyers,  and  returned  to  him ;  and  so  says 
he,  Hf  the  house  please  to  direct  to  have  them  all  proceeded  against 
to  outlawry,  whereby  his  Majesty  may  be  entitled  to  their  lands 
and  possessions,  which  I  there  boldly  affirm,  was,  at  the  begin- 
ning of  this  insurrection,  not  of  so  little  yearly  value  as  two  hun- 
dred thousand  pounds.'  This  Earl  of  Cork  was  notorious  during 
the  two  preceding  reigns,  for  his  rapacity;  but  this  last  effort  he 
called  the  work  of  works.  In  Dublin,  many  were  put  on  the 
rack,  in  order  to  extort  confessions;  and  in  the  short  space  of 
two  days  upwards  of  four  thousand  indictments  were  found 
against  landholders,  and  other  men  of  property  in  Leinster.  And 
numerous  are  the  letters  of  Lord  Clanrickard  to  Ormond  and 
others,  complaining  of  similar  attempts  to  raise  Connaught  into 
rebellion,  even  by  Ormond 's  own  troops." 
'Vol.  i.,  p.  117,  note. 


88  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

Over  six  hundred  thousand  men,  women  and  children 
were  slaughtered  or  died  from  starvation  and  it  is  estimated 
that  about  forty  thousand  persons  in  addition  were  so  fortu- 
nate as  to  escape  to  the  Continent.  It  was  a  common  saying 
among  the  English  soldiers — "Nits  will  make  lice,"  so  very 
few  of  the  Irish  children  were  spared.' 

By  this  transaction,  or  rebellion  as  it  is  termed,  the 
Government  came  into  possession  of  some  ten  millions  of 
acres  or,  as  we  have  stated,  a  little  more  than  one-half  of 
all  the  land  in  Ireland. 

Various  works  bearing  on  this  war  of  extermination  and 
written  by  Catholic  authors  were  ordered  by  Parliament  to 
be  collected  and  burned  and  generally  the  publishers  were 
imprisoned.     Prendergast  states  "" : 

"The  act  of  Oblivion,  passed  by  the  English  Parliament  in 
1660,  covered  all  the  acts  of  the  Protestants  of  Ireland,  but  none 

'  The  following  note  from  Curry's  work  (p.  415)  may  be  of  interest  to  the 
American  reader  in  connection  with  the  name  of  Washington  :  "In  the  same 
year  (1641)  after  quarter  given  by  Lieutenant  Gibson  to  those  of  the  Castle  of 
Carrigmain,  they  were  all  put  to  the  sword,  being  about  350,  most  of  them 
women  and  children  ;  and  Colonel  Washington,  endeavouring  to  save  a  pretty 
child  of  seven  years  old,  carried  him  under  his  cloak,  but  the  child  against 
his  will  was  killed  in  his  arms,  which  was  a  principal  motive  of  his  quiting  that 
service."  May  not  this  Washington  have  emigrated  to  America,  as  we  have 
shown  it  is  claimed  the  English  branch  of  Washingtons  died  out  before  the 
settlement  of  Jamestown,  Virginia?  If  the  reader  desires  to  obtain  evidence 
as  to  the  number  of  persons  sacrificed,  and  particularly  in  reference  to  those 
who  were  murdered  as  prisoners  after  quarter  had  been  granted,  the  follow, 
ing  article  should  be  consulted:  "Extract  of  a  collection  of  some  of  the 
massacres  and  murders  committed  on  the  Irish  in  Ireland  since  the  23d  of 
October,  1641.  .  .  .  This  collection  was  first  published  in  London  in  the 
year  1662.  The  author's  frequent,  candid  and  public  appeal  to  things  openly 
transacted  and  to  enemies  themselves,  then  living  and  well  known,  is  a  strong 
point  that  what  he  relates  is  real  matter  of  fact  ;  and  there  is  yet  a  stronger 
inducement  to  think  it  so,  because  it  has  never  yet  been  proved  to  be  other- 
wise ;  nor,  as  far  as  I  have  learned,  ever  attempted  to  be  proved."  The  re- 
print is  in  An  Historical  and  Critical  Review,  etc.,  by  Curry,  Appendix,  pp. 
409-423. 

*  The  Crom7vellian  Settlement  of  Ireland,  second  edition,  Dublin,  1875,  by 
John  P.  Prendergast,  p.  69. 


Promises  of ''Quarter"  Broken  89 

ever  passed  for  the  Irish,  though  expressly  promised.  So  that  acts 
of  war  are  to  this  day  counted  against  the  Irish  as  murders,  while 
massacres  by  the  EngHsh  or  Scotch  are  suppressed.  Thus, 
Newry  surrendered  to  Marshal  Conway  and  General  Munro,  the 
commanders  of  the  joint  English  and  Scottish  armies,  on  4th 
May,  1642,  on  quarter  for  life.  Yet  forty  of  the  townsmen  were 
put  to  death  next  day  on  the  bridge,  and  amongst  them  '  two  of 
the  Pope's  Pedlars'  (so  they  called  two  Seminary  priests) ;  and  the 
Scotch  soldiers,  finding  a  crowd  of  Irish  women  and  children 
hiding  under  the  bridge,  took  some  eighteen  of  the  women  and 
stript  them  naked  and  threw  them  into  the  river  and  drowned 
them,  shooting  them  in  the  water;  and  more  had  suffered  so,  but 
that  Sir  James  Turner,  in  command  under  General  Munro,  gal- 
loped up  and  stopt  his  men.  They  were  only  copying,  he  says, 
the  cruel  example  set  them  by  the  English  under  Conway's  com- 
mand. It  was  intended  to  terrify  the  Irish,  he  adds,  it  failed; 
for  in  revenge  they  put  some  ministers,  prisoners  in  their  hands, 
to  death.'  All  this  was  published  in  London  in  A  True  Relation 
of  the  Proceedings  of  the  Scots  and  English  Forces  in  the  North  of 
Ireland  in  1642.  The  Parliament  ordered  (June  8,  1642),  the 
book  to  be  burned,  not  as  false  but  as  scandalous  and  to  the  dis- 
honour of  the  Scots  nation,  and  the  printer  to  be  imprisoned." 
The  Confederate  Catholics  printed,  in  1643,  a  collection  of  the 
murders  done  upon  the  Irish  by  the  English.  The  book  was 
burnt  at  Dublin  on  the  26th  June,  1660,  by  order  of  the  Lord 
Lieutenant  and  Counsil';  and  on  7th  July,  1663,  Patrick  Rooth, 
a  poor  sailor,  was  imprisoned  for  selling  it."  ^ 

"  One  work  out  of  many  written  at  the  time  in  defence  of  the 
Irish,  and  thus  destroyed,  has  survived.  It  seems  to  be  a  reprint 
at  Kilkenny,  in  December  1642,  of  a  work  published  in  London, 
in  the  form  of  a  discourse  between  a  Privy  Councillor  of  Ireland 
and  one  of  the  Council  of  England.  The  Privy  Councillor  of 
Ireland  treats  of  the  causes  of  the  Insurrection,  taking  up  Irish 

'  Memoirs  of  his  own  Life  and  Times,  by  Sir  James  Turner,  1632-70,  Edin- 
burgh, 1829,  p.  19. 

*  Commons'  Journals  for  8th  June,  1642,  vol.  ii.,  p.  619. 

^  Brief  Occurrences  Touching  Ireland,  Begun  the  2^th  March  1661,  Carte 
Papers,  vol.  Ixiv.,  p.  442. 

*  Petition  of  Patrick  Rooth,  etc.,  Carte  Papers,  vol.  Ix.,  p.  337. 


90  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

grievances  from  the  Earl  of  Strafford's  government  in  1633,  and 
touches  towards  the  end  upon  the  collection  of  outrages  by  the 
seven  despoiled  ministers,  called  the  Remonstrance,  which  was 
published  in  the  month  of  April,  1642.'  He  does  not  confute  the 
massacre,  only  because  none  is  charged.  His  complaint  is,  that 
they  had  given  an  exaggerated  account  of  murders  and  outrages. 
'Doubtless  the  Irish  did,  in  many  places,'  he  says,  '  kill  men  resist- 
ing them  in  their  pillaging;  but  the  reports  of  their  killing  women 
or  men  desiring  quarter,  and  such  like  inhumanities,  were  inven- 
tions to  draw  contributions,  and  make  the  enemy  odious.  But 
sure  I  am  (he  continues)  that  there  was  no  such  thing  done  while 
I  was  there  in  Ireland,  about  six  months  after  these  sturres  began. 
And  though  unarmed,  men,  women,  and  children  were  killed  in 
thousands  by  command  of  the  Lords  Justices,  the  Irish  sent 
multitudes  of  our  people,  both  before  and  since  these  cruelties 
done,  as  well  officers  and  soldiers  as  women  and  children,  care- 
fully conveyed,  to  the  seaports  and  other  places  of  safety;  so  let 
us  call  them  what  we  will — bloody  inhuman  traitors,  or  barbarous 
rebels — we  have  suffered  ourselves  to  be  much  exceeded  by  them 
in  charity,  humanity,  and  honour. 

"To  hear  the  English  complain  of  massacres  in  Ireland  is 
about  as  entertaining  as  it  proved  to  the  Rhegians  to  hear  the 
Carthagenians  complain  of  anything  affected  by  guile.  For  it 
was  only  victory  that  decided,  with  her  usual  contempt  for  just- 
ice, that  the  Irish,  and  not  the  English,  should  be  noted  to  the 
world  for  massacre. ' ' 

As  Charles  lost  ground  and  was  opposed  by  the  Puritans, 
he  seemed  to  have  felt  some  sympathy  for  the  suffering  then 
being  inflicted  upon  the  Irish  people  who  had  remained  loyal 
to  him.  At  their  petition,  he  appointed  a  commission  to 
hear  their  complaint  and  to  receive  in  writing  what  they 
had  to  communicate  but  it  was  too  late  to  receive  more 
than  an  expression  of  their  sympathy. 

'  A  Discourse  between  Two  Councillors  of  State,  the  One  of  England  and  the 
Other  of  Ireland.  Printed  at  Kilkenny  the  loth  of  Dec,  1642.  Carte  Papers, 
vol.  iv.,  No.  54. 


CHAPTER   V 

CROMWELL  IN  IRELAND — CATHOLICS  NEARLY  EXTERMI- 
NATED AND  HUNTED  AS  WILD  BEASTS — MEN  OF  ALL 
RANKS  SENT  TO  AMERICA  AND  SOLD  AS  SLAVES — THE 
REMAINDER  GIVEN  THE  CHOICE  OF  GOING  TO  "  HELL 
OR  CONNAUGHT  " — FROM  THESE  PEOPLE  OF  GENTLE 
BIRTH  AND  REFINEMENT  THE  IRISH  PEASANTRY  OF 
TO-DAY  ARE  DESCENDED — NO  OTHER  RACE  PRESENTS 
SUCH  AN  ANOMALY 

Many  of  CromweH's  officers  were  educated  in  this  struggle 
undertaken  for  the  purpose  of  exterminating  the  Irish  race, 
so  that  when  they  were  called  upon  to  serve  in  his  invasion 
of  Ireland  a  few  years  later,  they  were  in  every  respect 
soldiers  of  fortune.  But  we  must  be  content  to  cite  only 
a  few  circumstances  connected  with  Cromwell's  campaign  in 
Ireland. 

Mathew  Carey  writes  ' : 

"  Of  all  the  cases  of  murderous  cruelty,  that  marked  the  career 
of  the  government  force  in  Ireland,  the  most  atrocious  occurred 
at  the  surrender  of  Drogheda.  The  history  of  the  Huns,  Van- 
dals, Goths  and  Ostragoths,  or  of  those  scourges  of  the  human 
race,  the  successors  of  Mahomet,  may  be  searched  in  vain  for 
anything  more  shocking.  .  .  .  Cromwell  had  besieged  this 
town  for  some  time;  and  was  finally  admitted  on  promise  of 
quarter.  The  garrison  consisted  of  the  flower  of  the  Irish  army, 
and  might  have  beaten  him  back,  had  they  not  been  seduced  by 

'  VindicicE  Hibernicce,  second  edition,  p.  425  ;  third  edition,  p.  348  ;  see 
also  the  statement  of  the  Marquis  of  Ormond,  Carte,  voL  ii.,  p.  84. 

91 


92  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

his  solemn  promise  of  mercy,  which  was  observed  till  the  whole 
had  laid  down  their  arms.  Then  the  merciless  wretch  com- 
manded his  soldiers  to  begin  the  slaughter  of  the  entire  garrison, 
which  slaughter  continued  for  five  days  with  every  circumstance  of 
brutal  and  sanguinary  violence  that  the  most  cruel  savages  could 
conceive  or  perpetrate. " 

Cromwell  in  his  canting  official  report  of  the  siege  wrote : 

"It  has  pleased  God  to  bless  our  endeavours  at  Drogheda. 

I  wish  that  all  honest  hearts  may  give  the  glory  of  this  to 
God  alone ^  to  whom  indeed  the  praise  of  this  mercy  belongs. 
I  believe  we  put  to  the  sword  the  whole  number  of  the  defendants. 

I  do  not  think  thirty  of  the  whole  number  escaped  with 
their  lives;  those  that  did,  are  in  safe  custody  for  the  Barbadoes, 
etc." 

Where,  it  may  be  added,  as  he  had  previously  stated,  they 
were  sold  as  slaves,  as  were  thousands  of  other  prisoners 
from  Ireland. 
Warner  writes  * : 

"  But  on  the  9th  of  September  the  summons  having  been  re- 
jected, Cromwell  began  to  batter  the  place ;  and  continuing  to  do 
so  till  the  next  day  in  the  evening,  the  assault  was  made  and  his 
men  twice  repulsed  with  great  bravery;  but  in  the  third  attack 
which  he  led  himself.  Colonel  Wall  being  killed  at  the  head  of 
his  regiment,  his  men  were  so  dismayed,  that  they  submitted  to 
the  enemy  offering  them  quarter  sooner  than  they  need  to  have 
done  and  thereby  betrayed  themselves  and  their  fellow-soldiers  to 
the  slaughter.  The  place  was  immediately  taken  by  storm ;  and 
though  his  officers  and  soldiers  had  promised  quarter  to  all  that 
would  lay  down  their  arms,  yet  Cromwell  ordered  that  no  quarter 
should  be  given,  and  none  was  given  accordingly.  The  slaughter 
continued  all  that  day,  and  the  next,  and  the  Governour  and  four 
Colonels  were  killed  in  cool  blood ;  'which  extraordinary  severity, ' 
says  Ludlow,  with  a  coolness  not  becoming  a  man — '  I  presume 
was  used  to  discourage  others  from  making  opposition.'  But  are 
men  to  divest  themselves  of  humanity,  and  to  turn  themselves  into 

'  P.  470. 


Cromwell  in  Ireland  93 

Devils  because  policy  may  suggest  that  they  will  succeed  better 
as  devils  than  as  men  ?  Such  is  the  spirit  of  religion,  when  it  is 
deprived  of  truth  and  reason  and  turned  into  zealous  fury  and 
enthusiasm.  When  Cromwell  had  finished  the  carnage  by  leav- 
ing only  about  thirty  alive,  whom  he  sent  away  to  Barbadoes, 
except  a  few  that  miraculously  made  their  escape,  he  went  on  to 
Dundalh." 

Friar  Broudine  gives  the  following  account  of  the 
massacre ' : 

"  This  butchery  (in  which  young  men  and  virgins,  children  at 
the  breast,  and  the  aged  were  slain  every  where  by  these  bar- 
barians, without  distinction  of  place,  sex,  religion  or  age)  lasted 
five  continuous  days.  Four  thousand  Catholic  men,  not  to  men- 
tion an  infinite  multitude  of  religious  women,  boys,  girls  and  in- 
fants in  the  City  fell  victims  to  the  sword  of  these  impious  rebels. ' ' 

These  statements  are  fully  verified  in  a  letter  written  by 
the  Marquis  of  Ormond  ^  to  the  King  and  to  Lord  Byron. 
And  the  additional  information  is  given  that  when  the 
official  despatch  was  laid  before  the  English  Parliament  a 
resolution  was  passed  which  was  to  be  transmitted  to  Crom- 
well and  his  officers:  "That  the  House  doth  approve  of  the 
execution  done  in  Drogheda,  both  as  an  act  of  justice  to 
them  and  mercy  to  others,  who  may  be  warned  by  it." 

Cromwell  with  this  endorsement  after  obtaining  possession 
of  the  city  of  Wexford,  in  utter  disregard  for  his  pledge  of 
quarter,  showed  the  same  degree  of  cruelty  there  as  he  had 
exercised  at  Drogheda. 

Borlace  writes  ' : 

"  Commissioners,  who  treating  with  Cromwell,  had  procured 

'  The  Rev.  Fr.  Anthony  Broudine  was  evidently  present  as  an  eye-witness 
in  Drogheda  at  the  time  of  the  massacre  and  was  fortunate  to  escape  to  the 
Continent.  For  many  years  he  taught  theology  in  the  Irish  college  at  Prague 
and  in  1669  he  published  Proptignaculum  Catholicce  Veritalis  (Pars  i  (et  unica) 
Historise  in  5  Lebros  Secta),  the  quotations  being  from  part  iv. 

*  Life  of  Ormond,  vol.  iii.,  p.  477. 

^  Hist07-y  of  the  Execrable  Irish  Rebellion,  etc.,  London,  1680,  p.  225. 


94  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

the  safety  of  the  Inhabitants  of  the  Town,  and  the  preservation 
of  it  from  plunder,  as  leave  for  the  Soldiers  to  depart  every  one 
to  their  homes  (they  engaging  not  to  bear  Arms  any  more  against 
the  State  of  England),  and  lastly,  of  life  to  the  officers." 

And  yet  as  soon  as  all  were  disarmed,  in  violation  of  the 
treaty  over  tivo  thousand  men,  women  and  children  found  in 
the  town  were  slaughtered  without  mercy !  After  taking 
Dundalh,  Neury,  Carlingford  and  a  number  of  other  places, 
the  garrisons,  with  all  others  found  in  these  towns,  were 
brutally  murdered  after  having  surrendered. 

In  continuation  we  will  again  quote  from  Carey's  work 
(third  edition,  p.  351): 

"  Three  thousand  men,  women  and  children,  of  all  ranks  and 
ages  took  refuge  in  the  Cathedral  of  Cashel,  hoping  the  Temple 
of  the  living  God  would  afford  them  a  sanctuary  from  the  butch- 
eries that  were  laying  the  whole  country  desolate.  The  bar- 
barian Ireton  forced  the  gates  of  the  church,  and  let  loose  his 
bloodhounds  among  them,  who  soon  convinced  them  how  vain 
was  their  reliance  on  the  Temple  or  the  altar  of  God.  They 
were  slaughtered  without  discrimination.  Neither  rank,  dignity 
or  character,  saved  the  nobleman,  the  bishop  or  the  priest;  nor 
decrepitude  nor  his  hoary  head,  the  venerable  sage  bending  down 
into  the  grave ;  nor  her  charms,  the  virgin ;  nor  her  virtues,  the 
respectable  matron;  nor  its  helplessness,  the  smiling  infant. 
Butchery  was  the  order  of  the  day,  and  all  shared  the  common 
fate." 

This  statement  is  not  strictly  correct.  It  is  true  that 
Ireton  was  in  general  command  but  most  writers  agree  in 
the  statement  that  the  attack  on  Cashel  was  made  directly 
by  Murrough  O'Brien,  Baron  of  Inchiquin,  an  Irishman, 
who  had  deserted  the  King's  standard  when  his  request  to 
be  made  Governor  of  Munster  had  been  refused. 

MacGeoghegan  states  * : 

"  It  may  be  observed,  that  the  houses  of  Thuomond  and  In- 
chiquin had  imbibed,  with  their  English  titles,  all  the  malignity 
'  MacGeoghegan,  p.  578. 


English  Methods  of  Extermination        95 

of  the  English  against  the  Irish.  Under  the  auspices  of  a  rebel- 
lious parliament  Inchiquin  fought  against  his  countrymen  more 
like  a  robber  than  the  general  of  an  army;  he  destroyed  every- 
thing with  fire  and  sword  in  his  march  through  Munster.  The 
holy  City  of  Cashel,  where  the  apostle  of  Ireland  baptized  the 
first  Christian  King  of  the  province,  did  not  escape  his  fury;  in 
vain  the  terrified  inhabitants  sought  safety  in  the  cathedral  church, 
the  sanctity  of  which  was  no  security  against  the  tyrant.  In- 
chiquin having  given  orders  for  an  assault,  commanded  his  sol- 
diers to  give  no  quarter,  so  that,  between  the  carnage  in  and 
outside  of  the  Church,  not  one  escaped.  Twenty  clergymen, 
with  a  vast  multitude  of  people,  perished  on  this  occasion." 

In  the  Memoirs  of  General  Ludlow  '  we  find : 

"  Having  brought  together  an  army,  he  (Ireton)  marched  into 
the  country  of  Tipperary,  and  learning  that  many  priests  and 
gentry  about  Cashel  had  retired  with  their  goods  into  the  church, 
he  stormed  it,  and  being  entered,  pict  three  thousand  of  them  to  the 
sivord,  taking  the  priests  even  from  under  the  altar. ^* 

According  to  Warner  ° : 

"  Inchiquin  offered  before  he  attacked  it  to  give  leave  for  the 
Governor  and  inhabitants  to  depart,  on  condition  they  would 
advance  three  thousand  pounds  and  a  month's  pay  for  his  army. 
The  proposal  was  rejected  and  the  place  taken  by  storm;  when  a 
prodigious  booty  was  found  and  a  most  horrible  carnage  of  the 
citizens  and  garrison  ensued  before  his  lordship  entered,  who  put 
a  stop  to  it  immediately," 

Borlace,  in  his  history  already  referred  to,  states,^  in  "An 
Abbreviate  of  Sir  William  Cole's  Services,  in  his  Fort  of 
Eniskillin,"  that  he,  with  five  hundred  men  and  one  troop 
of  horse,  slew  two  thousand,  four  hundred  and  seventeen 
persons  "that  account  hath  been  taken  of,"  during  the  cam- 
paign in  Ireland,  or  in  other  words  they  murdered  over  that 

^  Me7noirs  of  Edmund  Ludlow,  Vevay,  1698,  vol.  i.,  p.  106. 

»  P.  412.  ^  Borlace,  p.  87. 


96  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

number  of  non-combatants  or  defenceless  persons.  But  Sir 
William  evidently  prided  himself  particularly  on  one  achieve- 
ment, mentioned  by  Borlace  in  the  same  "Abbreviate," 
showing  that  he  "Starvd  and  FamisJi  d  of  tJic  Vulgar  sort 
seven  thousand  persons"  in  addition,  "whose  goods  were 
seized  on  by  this  Regiment,"  and  whom  he  held  as  prisoners 
after  having  plundered  them  of  all  their  property. 

In  the  Sydney  Papers,  London,  1746,  is  given  an  account 
of  Sir  Richard  Cox's  services  in  Ireland  where  he  makes 
the  following  boast : 

"As  to  the  enemy,  I  used  them  like  nettles,  and  squeezed  them 
(I  mean  their  vagabond  partyes)  see  hard,  that  they  could  seldom 
sting;  having,  as  I  believe,  killed  and  hanged  no  less  than  three 
thousand  of  them,  whilst  I  stayed  in  the  County  of  Cork;  and 
taken  from  them  in  cattle  and  plunder,  at  least  to  the  value  of 
Twelve  thousand  pounds,  which  you  will  easily  believe,  when  you 
know  that  I  divided  three  hundred  and  eighty  pounds  between 
one  troop  (Colonel  Townsend's)  in  the  beginning  of  August. 
After  which  Colonel  Beecher  and  the  western  gentlemen  got  a 
prey  worth  three  thousand  pounds,  besides  several  other  lesser 
preys,  taken  by  small  partyes,  that  are  not  taken  notice  of  &c." 

If  an  insignificant  portion  was  so  successful  in  "  killing," 
"  hanging,"  and  "  getting  other  preys,"  what  must  have 
been  accomplished  by  the  whole  army  which  overran  and 
treated  in  a  similar  manner  the  greater  part  of  Ireland? 

According  to  Taaffe  ' : 

"  The  act  of  the  27th  of  Elizabeth,  by  proclamation  from  these 
regicide  commissioners,  was  made  of  force  in  Ireland,  and  or- 
dered to  be  most  strictly  put  in  execution.  By  it  '  Every  Romish 
Priest  was  deemed  guilty  of  rebellion,  and  sentenced  to  be  hanged 
until  he  was  half  dead ;  then  to  have  his  head  cut  off  and  his 
body  cut  in  quarters;  his  bowels  to  be  drawn  out  and  burnt;  and 
his  head  fixed  upon  a  pole  in  some  public  place.'  The  punish- 
ment of  those  who  entertained  a  priest,  was  by  the  same  act,  con- 

*  An  Impartial  Ilistory  of  Ireland,  etc.,  by  Dennis  Taaffe,  Dublin,  vol.  iii., 
PP-  338.  339- 


Choice  of  "  Hell  or  Connaught"  97 

fiscation  of  their  goods  and  chattels,  and  the  ignominious  death 
of  the  gallows.  This  Edict  was  renewed  the  same  year,  with  the 
additional  cruelty  of  making  even  the  private  exercise  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  Religion  a  capital  crime.  Many  shocking  ex- 
amples of  the  strict  execution  of  these  barbarous  edicts  were 
daily  seen,  insomuch,  that  '  Neither  the  Israelites  were  more 
cruelly  persecuted  by  Pharaoh,  nor  the  innocent  infants  by 
Herod,  nor  the  Christians  by  Nero,  nor  any  of  the  other  Pagan 
tyrants,  than  were  the  Roman  Catholics  of  Ireland,  at  that  junc- 
ture, by  these  savage  commissioners.'  "  ' 

Taaffe  also  quotes  from  Curry  ^ : 

"  '  The  same  price  (five  pounds)  was  set  by  these  commissioners 
on  the  head  of  a  Romish  Priest,  as  on  that  of  a  wolf;  the  number 
of  which  latter  was  then  very  considerable  in  Ireland;  and  al- 
though the  profession  and  character  of  a  Romish  Priest  could 
not,  one  would  think,  be  so  clearly  ascertained,  as  the  species  of 
a  wolf,  by  the  mere  inspection  of  their  heads  thus  severed  from 
their  bodies,  yet  the  bare  asseveration  of  the  beheaders  was,  in 
both  cases,  equally  credited  and  rewarded  by  these  commis- 
sioners. So  inveterate  was  their  malice  and  hatred  of  that  order 
of  men.'  " 

During  the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  and  of  James, 
Charles  and  Cromwell,  the  Catholic  population  of  Ireland, 
which  had  not  been  put  to  the  sword,  was  reduced  to  beg- 
gary by  the  general  confiscation  of  their  lands  and  of  all 
personal  property.  In  Cromwell's  day,  after  the  rightful 
owners  had  been  despoiled  and,  as  a  rule,  put  to  the  sword, 
at  least  two-thirds  of  Ireland's  territory  was  resettled  by 
persons  devoted  to  the  English  interests.  With  the  excep- 
tion of  a  very  limited  number,  who  remained  behind  as 
menials,  the  surviving  Catholic  population  was  driven  west- 
ward across  the  Shannon,  without  distinction  of  class  or 
former  social  position ;  and  in  this  destitute  condition  they 
were  given  by  Cromwell  the  choice  of  going  to  "Hell  or 
Connaught." 

'  Morrison's  Threnodia  Hiberno-Catholica,  Innsbruck,  1659,  P-  14' 

^  Review  of  the  Civil  Wars  in  Ireland,  etc. 
VOL.  1. — 7. 


98  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

Lord  Clare  in  his  noted  "Speech  upon  the  Union"  stated 
that  11,697,629  acres  had  been  confiscated  in  Ireland  as 
follows : 

Forfeited  up  to  the  close  of  James  I.'s  reign 2,836,837 

Forfeited  up  to  the  close  of  Charles  II. 's  reign 7,800,000 

Forfeited  at  the  Revolution 1,060,792 

Total 11,697,629 

"  So  that  the  whole  of  our  island  has  been  confiscated,  with 
the  exception  of  the  estates  of  five  or  six  families  in  the  reign  of 
Henry  VIII.,  who  recovered  their  possessions  before  Tyrone's 
rebellion  and  had  the  good  fortune  to  escape  the  pillage  of  the 
English  republic  inflicted  by  Cromwell;  and  no  inconsiderable 
portion  of  the  Island  had  been  confiscated  twice,  or  perhaps 
thrice,  in  the  course  of  the  century.  .  .  .  The  situation, 
therefore,  of  the  Irish  nation  at  the  revolution,  stands  unparal- 
leled in  the  history  of  the  inhabited  world." 

Curry  writes ' : 

"  Cromwell  and  his  council,  finding  the  utter  extirpation  of  the 
nation,  which  they  had  intended,  to  be  in  itself  very  difiicult,  and 
to  carry  in  it  somewhat  of  horror,  that  made  some  impression 
upon  the  stone  hardness  of  their  own  hearts,  after  so  many  thou- 
sand destroyed  by  the  sword,  fire,  famine,  and  the  plague;  and 
after  so  many  thousands  transported  into  foreign  parts,  found 
out  the  following  expedient  of  transplantation,  which  they  called 
'  an  act  of  grace.'  There  was  a  large  tract  of  land,  even  to  the 
half  of  the  province  of  Connaught,  that  was  separated  from  the 
rest,  by  a  long  and  large  river,  and  which,  by  the  plague,  and 
many  massacres,  remained  almost  desolate.  Into  this  space,  and 
circute  of  land,  they  required  all  the  Irish  to  retire  by  a  certain 
day,  under  the  penalty  of  death;  and  all  who  after  that  time, 
should  be  found  in  any  other  part  of  the  Kingdom,  man,  woman 
or  child,  might  be  killed,  by  any  body  who  saw  or  met  them. 
The  land  within  this  circute,  the  most  barren  in  the  Kingdom, 
was  out  of  the  grace  and  mercy  of  the  conquerors,  assigned  to 

'  P.  275. 


Ireland's  Condition  in  1653  99 

those  of  the  nation,  who  were  enclosed  in  such  proportions,  as 
might  Avith  great  industry,  preserve  their  lives.  And  to  those 
persons,  from  whom  they  had  taken  great  quantities  of  land  in 
other  provinces,  they  assigned  greater  proportions  within  this 
precinct.  And  that  they  might  not  be  exalted  with  this  merciful 
donative,  it  was  a  condition  that  accompanied  this  their  accom- 
modation, that  they  should  all  give  releases  of  their  former  rights 
and  titles  to  the  land  that  was  taken  from  them,  in  consideration 
of  what  was  now  assigned  them ;  and  so  they  should  forever  bar 
themselves,  and  their  heirs,  from  laying  claim  to  their  old  inherit- 
ance, &c." 

Walsh  states ' : 

"The  gentlemen  were  thus  transplanted,  without  cattle  to  stock 
their  land,  without  seed  to  sow,  or  plough  to  manure  it ;  without 
servants,  without  shelter,  without  house  or  cabin  to  dwell  in,  or 
defend  them  from  the  wolves,  or  from  robbers,  or  from  heat  or 
cold,  or  other  injuries  of  the  air.  And  the  miserable  Irish  so 
transplanted,  must  not,  even  in  those  small  tracts  allotted  for 
them,  within  the  narrow  precincts  of  some  parks  in  three  or  four 
counties  of  Connaught,  and  Thomond,  pitch  in  any  place,  or  fix 
their  dwelling  houses  or  take  any  lands  within  two  miles  of  the 
Shannon,  four  of  the  sea,  and  four  of  Galway,  the  only  city  within 
their  precinct;  they  must  not  enter  this  town,  or  any  other  cor- 
porate or  garrisoned  place,  without  particular  orders,  at  their 
peril,  even  of  being  taken  by  the  throat.  ...  It  was  during 
this  calamitous  period,  that  poverty  had  recourse  to  various  rude 
means  of  husbandry  and  economy,  very  different  from  the  modes 
practiced  in  more  fortunate  and  civilized  periods.  Then  it  was, 
that  horses  were  made  to  draw  the  plough  by  the  tail.  That  it 
was  not  prior  to  this,  is  clear  from  the  name  of  a  plough  in  the 
native  tongue,  and  of  its  tackling,  Seisereach,  vulg,  Seistreach; 
meaning,  six  horses  to  the  plough.  *  Threshing  corn  with  fiery 
flail.'  The  scarcity  of  timber,  by  the  burning  of  forests  for 
hunting  the  unfortunate  natives  therefrom,  obliged  great  num- 
bers, at  a  distance  from  bogs,  to  use  dung  of  animals  for  fuel, 
and  for  soap  too;  and  the  general  distress  brought  sled-cars  in 

'Walsh's  Reply  to  a  Person  of  Quality,  p.  145,  and  Taaffe,  vol.  iii.,  pp. 
342,  343. 


loo  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

use  instead  of  wheels.  These  rude  implements  have  been  re- 
corded, by  the  very  enemies  who  compelled  their  victims  to  have 
recourse  to  these  poor  means,  as  so  many  proofs  of  their  original 
barbarity." 

Sir  William  Petty  has  generally  been  accepted  as  the  most 
reliable  authority  on  all  statistical  information  relating  to 
this  war  in  Ireland.     He  says  ' : 

"  Whereas,  the  present  proportion  of  the  British  is  as  3  to  11; 
but  before  the  wars  the  proportion  was  less,  viz,  as  2  to  1 1 ;  and 
then  it  follows  that  the  number  of  British  slain  in  eleven  years 
was  112,000  souls,  of  which  I  guess  two-thirds  to  have  perished 
by  war,  plague  and  famine.  So  as  it  follows  that  37,000  were 
massacred  in  the  first  year  of  tumults;  so  those  who  think  145,000 
were  so  destroyed,  ought  to  review  the  grounds  of  their  opinion. 

"  It  follows  also  that  above  504,000  of  the  Irish  perished  and 
were  wasted  by  the  sword,  plague,  famine,  hardship  and  banish- 
ment, between  the  23d  of  October,  1641,  and  the  same  day,  1652. 

"  If  Ireland  had  continued  in  peace  for  the  said  eleven  years, 
then  the  1,446,000  had  increased  by  generation,  in  that  time, 
73,000  more,  making  in  all  1,519,000,  which  were,  by  the  said 
wars,  brought,  anno  1652,  to  850,000;  so  that  there  were  lost 
669,000  souls,  for  whose  blood  somebody  should  answer  both  to 
God  and  the  King. 

"  Anno  1653,  debentures  were  freely  and  openly  sold  for  four 
shillings  and  five  shillings  per  pound.  And  twenty  shillings  of 
debenture,  one  with  another,  did  purchase  two  acres  of  land,  at 
which  rate  all  the  land  of  Ireland,  if  it  were  eight  millions  of 
profitable  acres,  might  have  been  had  for  a  million  of  money, 
which,  anno  1641,  was  worth  above  eight  millions. 

"  The  cattle  and  stock  was,  anno  1641,  worth  about  four  mil- 
lions; but  anno  1652,  the  people  of  Dublin  fetched  meat  from 
Wales,  there  being  none  here,  and  the  whole  cattle  of  Ireland 
not  worth  500,000  pounds. 

**  Corn  was  then  at  fifty  shillings  per  barrel,  which  is  now  and 
was  anno  1641  under  twelve  shillings. 

"The  houses  of  Ireland,  anno  1641,  were  worth  two  million 
and  a  half;  but  anno  1652,  not  worth  p/^500,000. 

'  Political  Anatomy  of  Ireland,  1691,  pp.  312-316. 


Catholic  Irish  Sold  into  Slavery         loi 

"  The  twenty  years  rent  of  all  the  land  forfeited,  by  reason  of 
the  said  rebellion,  viz.,  since  the  year  1652  to  1673,  hath  not  fully 
defrayed  the  charge  of  the  English  army  in  Ireland  for  the  said 
time;  nor  doth  the  said  rents,  at  this  day  do  the  same  with  half 
as  much  more  or  above  ^100,000  per  annum  more." 

Thus  about  one-third  of  the  population  of  Ireland  was 
lost,  over  half  a  million  of  the  Irish  disappeared  (with  one 
hundred  and  twelve  thousand  men  of  English  stock)  and  all 
cattle,  crops  and  supplies  of  every  description,  not  needed 
by  the  English  troops,  were  destroyed. 

Over  one  hundred  thousand  young  children,  who  were 
orphans  or  had  been  taken  from  their  Catholic  parents,  were 
sent  abroad  into  slavery  in  the  West  Indies,  Virginia  and 
New  England,  that  they  might  thus  lose  their  faith  and  all 
knowledge  of  their  nationality,  for  in  most  instances  even 
their  names  were  changed.'  During  this  period  many  thou- 
sands of  young  men  were  driven  into  exile,  to  enter  the 
armies  of  European  nations  or  to  settle  on  the  frontiers  of 
the  American  Colonies,  there  to  become  a  bulwark  against 
the  Indians  for  the  protection  of  the  more  favored  settlers 
on  the  coast. 

Moreover,  the  cotemporary  writers  assert  that  between 
twenty  and  thirty  thousand  men  and  women,  who  had  been 
taken  prisoners,  were  sold  in  the  American  Colonies  as 
slaves,  with  no  respect  to  their  former  station  in  life. 

The  commissioners  appointed  to  allot  the  land  to  the  ad- 
venturers and  soldiers  and  to  settle  the  Irish  in  Connaught 
followed  the  example  of  Cromwell,  who  sold  into  slavery 

■  Every  Irishman  in  Ireland  within  reach  of  English  authority  was  at  that 
time  governed  by  the  following  law  :  ' '  An  act  that  Irishmen  dwelling  in  the 
counties  of,  etc.  ...  go  appareled  like  Englishmen  and  wear  their  beards 
after  the  English  manner,  swear  allegiance,  and  take  English  surnames  ;  which 
surnames  shall  be  of  one  town,  as  Sutton,  Chester,  Trim,  Skryne,  Corke, 
Kinsale  ;  or  colours,  as  white,  black,  brown  ;  or  arts  or  sciences,  as  Smith  or 
Carpearter  ;  or  office,  as  cook,  butler,  &c.,  and  it  is  enacted  that  he  and  his 
issue  shall  use  this  name  under  pain  of  forfeyting  of  his  goods  yearly,  etc." 
See  Appendix,  note  6. 


I02  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

the  Irish  prisoners.  They  directed  the  governors  of  differ- 
ent stations  to  seize  all  persons  within  their  districts  who 
were  without  any  visible  means  of  support  and,  when  in 
sufficient  numbers,  they  were  to  be  placed  in  charge  of 
agents  for  transportation  to  the  American  Colonies  and  the 
West  Indies.  At  the  close  of  the  war  it  is  not  likely  that 
any  able-bodied  men  could  have  been  found  within  reach  of 
English  influence  while  but  few  of  the  elder  portion  of  the 
population  could  have  survived  the  privations  endured. 
But  necessarily  thousands  of  women,  the  wives  and  daugh- 
ters of  those  who  had  fallen  in  battle  or  who,  as  prisoners 
of  war,  had  been  sold  into  slavery,  were  left  destitute  after 
their  homes  had  been  seized.  Those  of  gentle  blood  were 
in  all  probability  in  greater  number,  being  the  least  able  to 
gain  support  or  to  adapt  themselves  to  the  new  circum- 
stances. These  commissioners  were  directed  to  specify 
those  "who  were  of  an  age  to  labour  or  if  women  were 
marriageable  and  not  past  breeding." 

Frightful  must  have  been  the  mental  and  physical  suffer- 
ing of  these  women  thus  "provided  for"  and  it  is  not  pos- 
sible to  realize  in  full  what  must  have  been  the  fate  of 
many! 

Prendergast  writes  ' : 

"  Ireland  must  have  exhibited  scenes  in  every  part  like  the 
slave  hunts  in  Africa.  How  many  girls  of  gentle  birth  must  have 
been  caught  and  hurried  to  the  private  prisons  of  these  men- 
catchers  none  can  tell.  We  are  told  of  one  case.  Daniel  Con- 
nery,  a  gentleman  of  Clare,  was  sentenced,  in  Morrison's  presence, 
to  banishment,  in  1657,  by  Colonel  Henry  Ingoldsby,  for  harbour- 
ing a  priest.  '  This  gentleman  had  a  wife  and  twelve  children. 
His  wife  fell  sick  and  died  in  poverty.  Three  of  his  daughters, 
beautiful  girls,  were  transferred  to  the  West  Indies,  to  an  island 
called  the  Barbadoes;  and  there,  if  still  alive  (he  says)  they  are 
miserable  slaves.'  "  ^ 

Prendergast  continues  * : 

*  P.  90.  '  Morrison,  p.  287.  '  P.  92. 


Women  "Transplanted"  to  New  England  103 

"As  one  instance  out  of  many: — Captain  John  Vernon  was  em- 
ployed by  the  Commissioners  for  Ireland  into  England,  and  con- 
tracted in  their  behalf  with  Mr.  David  Sellick  and  Mr.  Leader 
under  his  hand,  bearing  date  the  14th  September,  1653,  to  supply 
them  with  two  hundred  and  fifty  women  of  the  Irish  nation  above 
twelve  years,  and  under  the  age  of  forty-five,  also  three  hundred 
men  above  twelve  years  of  age  and  under  fifty,  to  be  found  in 
the  county  within  twenty  miles  of  Cork  &c.  .  .  .  To  trans- 
plant them  into  New  England  .  .  ."  *  And  (in  1655)  "to 
secure  a  thousand  young  girls  ('  Irish  wenches '  is  Secretary 
Thurloe's  term)  to  be  sent  there  also.  .  .  .  Henry  Cromwell 
answered  that  there  would  be  no  difficulty,  only  that  force  must 
be  used  in  taking  them ;  and  he  suggested  the  addition  of  from 
1500  to  2000  boys  of  from  twelve  to  fourteen  years  of  age.  .  .  . 
We  could  well  spare  them,"  he  adds,  "and  they  might  be  of  use 
to  you ;  and  who  knows  but  it  might  be  a  means  of  making  them 
Englishmen — I  mean  Christians?  ^  .  .  .  The  number  finally 
fixed  were  1000  boys,  and  1000  girls,  to  sail  from  Galway  October, 
1655,^  the  boys  as  bondsmen,  probably,  and  the  girls  to  be  bound 
by  other  ties  to  these  English  soldiers  in  Jamaica.*  ...  In 
the  course  of  four  years  they  had  seized  and  shipped  about  6400 
Irish  men  and  women,  boys  and  maidens,  when  on  the  4th  of 


'  If  we  take  into  consideration  the  total  number  of  "Puritan  Fathers"  in 
New  England  at  this  time,  it  would  seem  not  improbable  that  these  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  young  Irish  women,  with  many  others  sent  over  from  Ireland 
about  the  same  time,  must  have  all  eventually  been  transformed  at  least  into 
Irish  Puritans.  If  so,  their  progeny  must  in  time  have  given  quite  a  Hibe^-nian 
tint  to  the  pure  blood  of  the  descendants  of  the  Mayflower.  I  have  not  seen 
that  the  New  England  writers  who  made  our  histories  have  Jioted  these  facts 
but  probably  they  failed  to  do  so  on  evidence  that  they  were  not  "  Scotch- 
Irish"  women.  See  "  Irish  Emigration  during  the  17th  and  i8th  Centuries," 
Proceedings  American-Irish  Historical  Society,  vol.  ii. 

*  Thurloe,  State  Papers,  vol.  iv.,  p.  17. 

^  Ibid.,  vol.  iv.,  p.  100. 

■* "  Muller,  the  painter  at  Berlin,  was  stated  to  be  engaged  in  1859,  on  a 
picture  representing  the  seizing  and  transporting  of  these  Irish  girls  to  the  West 
Indies.  See  the  Newspapers  of  the  21st  Feb.,  1859." — Prendergast,  pp.  go,  92. 
England  became  an  expert  afterward  in  this  line.  We  may  instance  the  re- 
moval by  force  of  the  French  inhabitants  in  1755  from  Arcadia,  afterwards 
Nova  Scotia.     There  were  many  thousands  of   Irish   Evangelines,   where   in 


I04  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

March,  1656,  all  orders  were  revoked.  .  .  .  But  at  last  the 
evil  became  too  shocking  and  notorious,  particularly  when  these 
dealers  in  Irish  flesh  began  to  seize  the  daughters  and  children  of 
the  English  themselves,  and  to  force  them  on  board  their  slave 
ships;  then,  indeed,  the  orders,  at  the  end  of  four  years,  were 
revoked." 

The  remnant  of  the  Irish  people  who  were  driven  to  the 
west  coast  of  Ireland  was  chiefly  the  gentry,  or  of  the 
land-holder  class  whose  property  had  been  seized  and  con- 
fiscated, and  from  these  people  have  come  the  greater  part 
of  the  Catholic  portion  of  the  present  Irish  race.  Those 
who  were  thus  despoiled  were  as  a  class  more  refined  and 
better  educated  than  those  who  displaced  them  and  their 
ancestors  were  a  civilized  and  highly  cultivated  people  hun- 
dreds of  years  before  the  progenitors  of  their  English  foes 
had  yet  lapsed  from  barbarism. 

Very  few  of  those  whom  Borlace  termed  "of  the  vulgar 
sort  "  were  allowed  to  escape  the  sword,  starvation  or 
slavery.  Therefore  the  class  in  this  country  which  we  so 
often  hear  thoughtless  and  prejudiced  if  not  ignorant  people 
designate  as  "the  low  Irish  "  is  to  a  great  extent  descended 
from  those  who  were  robbed  less  than  three  centuries  ago 
and  thus  reduced  to  poverty,  a  condition  in  which  they 
were  afterwards  kept  by  every  means  which  could  be  de- 
vised by  the  British  Government.  Dean  Swift  has  stated 
that  if  you  wish  to  find  the  descendants  of  the  old  gentry 
"You  must  go  to  the  Liberties  or  the  Coal  Quays." 

Few  realize  the  wonderful  vitality  of  the  Irish  people  and 
it  seems  almost  incredible  that  the  prolific  and  sturdy  race 
of  the  present  day  has  sprung  from  a  stock  which  was  so 
nearly  exterminated  within  three  hundred  years.  It  is 
equally  remarkable  that  no  other  people  can  claim  to  have 
come  as  a  whole  from  a  better  race  or  from  a  class  which  at 

every  instance  the  forced  separation  was  made  even  more  brutal  than  the 
Arcadians  suffered,  as  the  English  never  intended  that  any  members  of  an 
Irish  family  should  ever  meet  again. 


Ancestry  of  the  Modern  Irish  Peasant    105 

one  time  occupied  so  uniform  a  station  in  life.  Through 
ignorance  of  the  above  facts  it  is  sometimes  stated  in  sarcasm 
that  the  Irish  people  all  claim  to  have  been  descended  from 
kings.  In  truth,  it  may  be  held  that  as  a  rule,  among  the 
humblest  of  these  people,  there  are  but  few  who  could  not 
claim  by  right  a  pedigree  which  was  already  illustrious  long 
years  before  the  oldest  title  now  in  the  British  Peerage  was 
created.  In  this  connection  it  is  of  no  less  interest  that  the 
reader  should  become  familiar  with  other  facts. 

The  disturbed  condition  of  the  country  which  had  existed 
in  Ireland  for  nearly  fifty  years  previous  to  the  invasion 
of  Cromwell's  army  had  undoubtedly  deprived  the  poor 
classes  of  educational  advantages  and  yet  they  were  in  no 
worse  condition  than  the  same  class  in  England. 

The  Catholic  gentry  and  the  upper  class,  however,  were 
better  educated  as  a  rule  in  Ireland  than  those  filling  the 
same  station  of  life  in  England  '  and  this  condition  had  been 
gained,  notwithstanding  England's  grievous  penal  laws. 
Any  one  who  has  examined  the  Irish  records  of  this  period 
to  the  extent  the  writer  has  can  vouch  for  the  fact  that 
there  were  comparatively  few  of  Cromwell's  ofificers  who 
could  do  more  than  sign  their  names  in  the  crudest  manner. 
On  the  other  hand  the  Irish  sent  to  Connaught  were  people 
of  education  and  refinement. 

There  was  such  constant  intercourse  between  the  west 
coast  of  Ireland  and  the  Continent  by  means  of  the  Irish 
smugglers,  that  little  heed  was  paid  to  the  threatened 
penalty  for  obtaining  an  education.  The  voyage  was 
neither  a  long  nor  an  expensive  one  and  many  worked 
their  passage.  In  Paris  and  elsewhere  there  existed  gen- 
erally some  special  provision  made  by  the  European  govern- 
ments to  aid  in  the  gratuitous  education  of  young  Irishmen 

'  The  celebrated  Jesuit,  Edmund  Campion,  who  wrote  "Wvs,  Historie  of  Ireland 
in  1570,  has  the  following  notice  of  the  professors  of  law  and  physic  in  Ire- 
land :  "  They  speake  latine  like  a  vulgar  language,  learning  in  their  common 
schools  of  leachcraft  and  law  &c."  See  Annals  of  the  Four  Masters,  etc.,  vol. 
v.,  p.  1397,  note,  A.D.  1530. 


io6  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

for  the  priesthood  and  otherwise.  Catholics  would  natur- 
ally, under  the  circumstances,  acquire  sufficient  knowledge 
of  Latin  to  speak  it  and  they  received  in  addition  the  usual 
collegiate  training.  The  Irish  people  have  always  been 
noted  for  their  ready  facility  in  acquiring  a  knowledge  of 
languages  and  all  who  visited  the  Continent  spoke  French 
and  Spanish  as  well.  Therefore  in  Cromwell's  day  Irishmen 
of  good  birth  generally  spoke  fluently  Irish,  Latin  and  one 
or  more  of  the  Continental  languages,  with  often  some 
knowledge  of  English.  Many  of  them  as  "poor  students  " 
managed  to  travel  to  some  extent  and  before  returning 
home,  in  return  for  the  education  obtained,  it  was  a  fre- 
quent circumstance  that  they  served  for  a  time  in  a  foreign 
army  or  in  some  civil  capacity.  Therefore,  the  statement 
made  is  true  that  the  Irish  gentlemen  whose  lands  were  con- 
fiscated and  who  were  settled  in  Connaught  were  far  supe- 
rior in  education  and  refinement  to  those  of  Cromwell's 
army  who  displaced  them. 

It  is  equally  true,  as  stated,  that  the  Irish  peasantry  of  to- 
day are  descended  from  a  better  ancestry  on  the  average 
than  any  other  known  race. 


CHAPTER   VI 

WILFUL  DESTRUCTION  OF  HUMAN  LIFE  IN  IRELAND  — 
CONDITION  OF  THE  PEOPLE  UNDER  CHARLES  AND 
JAMES  —  TREATY  OF  LIMERICK  WITH  WILLIAM  OF 
ORANGE — FREEDOM  OF  WORSHIP  PLEDGED  TO  THE 
CATHOLICS — WILLIAM  VIOLATES  HIS  PROMISES — ANNE 
AND  THE  GEORGES — CATHOLICS  IN  IRELAND  WERE 
NEVER  INTOLERANT  —  THEIR  LIBERALITY  TOWARDS 
THE   QUAKERS,    METHODISTS   AND   JEWS 

Hallam,  after  reviewing  the  suffering  and  martyrdom  to 
which  the  Catholic  portion  of  the  Irish  population  had  been 
subjected,  was  of  the  opinion  in  reference  to  the  penal  laws, 
that':  "To  have  exterminated  the  Catholics  by  the  sword 
or  expelled  them,  like  the  Moriscoes  of  Spain,  would  have 
been  little  more  repugnant  to  justice  and  humanity,  but  in- 
comparably more  polite." 

All  Irish  writers  agree  that  for  years  the  English  devoted 
their  entire  energy  to  accomplish  this  object  but  Hallam 
was  evidently  in  ignorance  of  the  true  spirit  manifested  by 
his  countrymen  who  failed  in  an  undertaking  which  ex- 
hausted all  human  effort. 

Mathew  Carey  states  * : 

"  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  cause  of  humanity  would 
have  gained  immensely  had  Henry  the  Second  exterminated  the 
whole  nation,  m.en,  women  and  children,  provided  he  had  peopled 

'  Constitutiojial  History,  vol.  iii.,  p.  401. 
-  Vindicia  Hibernica,  etc.,  p.  3. 

107 


io8  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

the  island  with  an  EngHsh  colony  and  imparted  to  them  the 
benefit  of  English  laws. 

"  The  population  at  the  time  of  the  invasion  was  probably  not 
more  than  seven  or  eight  hundred  thousand,  if  so  many.  If  ex- 
terminated their  suffering  would  have  terminated. 

"  Whereas,  for  the  five  hundred  years  between  the  descent  of 
the  English  and  the  final  subjugation  of  the  country  under  Wil- 
liam the  Third,  the  average  waste  of  human  life  could  not  have 
been  less  than  ten  thousand, — but  say  only  six  thousand  per 
annum  amounting  on  the  whole  to  five  millions.  But  the  loss  of 
life  can  only  be  regarded  as  a  secondary  consideration.  The 
havoc  that  war  makes  of  human  beings  bears  no  comparison  with 
the  havoc  it  makes  of  human  happiness,  particularly  when  it 
brings  in  its  train  the  plague  and  famine,  as  it  so  frequently  did 
in  Ireland.  But  even  independent  of  plague  and  famine  the  suf- 
ferings of  the  survivors  ordinarily  far  outweigh  those  of  the 
wretches  who  fall  a  sacrifice  to  the  horrors  of  war. ' ' 

Ben  Jonson  thus  described  the  situation  in  Ireland: 

"  No  age  was  spared,  no  sex  nay  no  degree; 
Not  infants  in  the  porch  of  life  were  free ; 
The  sick,  the  old,  who  could  but  hope  a  day 
Longer  by  nature's  bounty,  not  let  stay. 
Virgins  and  widows,  matrons  and  pregnant  wives, 
All  died.     'T  was  crime  enough  that  they  had  lives. 
To  strike  but  only  those  who  could  do  hurt, 
Was  dull  and  poor." 

Men,  women  and  children  were  indiscriminately  slaugh- 
tered and  hunted  as  wild  beasts. 

To  kill  an  Irishman '  on  sight  was  not  unlawful  even  in 

*  It  was  at  one  time  only  necessary  to  imagine  an  Irishman  was  going  to  or 
coming  from  a  robbery.  In  the  fifth  year  of  Edward  IV.  it  was  enacted  "  that 
it  shall  be  lawful  to  all  manner  of  men,  that  find  any  thieves  robbing  by  day  or 
by  night,  or  going,  or  coming  to  rob,  or  steal,  in  or  out,  going  or  coming, 
having  no  faithful  man  of  good  name  and  fame  in  their  company,  in  English 
apparel,  upon  any  of  the  leige  people  of  the  King,  that  it  shall  be  lawful  to 
take  and  kill  those,  and  cut  off  their  heads,  without  any  impeachment  of  our 
Sovereign  Lord  the  King,   His  heirs,  officers,  or  ministers,  or  of  any  other, 


The  Irish  Support  James  II.  109 

Cromwell's  day  and  if  the  murderer  was  subjected  to  any 
punishment  it  was  only  in  the  payment  of  a  small  fine,  in 
case  the  authorities  had  to  take  some  cognizance  of  the 
crime.  We  shall  see  that  even  within  a  comparatively  recent 
period  the  British  Government  took  no  action  to  stop  the 
murder  of  Catholics,  before  the  outbreak  of  1798  in  County 
Armagh  and  elsewhere,  nor  to  punish  those  who  were  guilty. 
And  we  will  show  that  shortly  thereafter,  in  1798,  a  com- 
manding officer  gave  orders  to  shoot  any  Irishman  met  by 
chance  on  the  way  ' '  if  lie  was  supposed  to  be  a  rebel ' '  and 
not  to  take  the  trouble  of  bringing  in  any  prisoners. 

Before  Cromwell  had  ever  seen  Ireland  it  seemed  as  if  the 
ingenuity  of  man  could  not  possibly  have  added  another 
device  to  what  had  already  been  done  to  beggar  and  to  ex- 
terminate the  Irish  race,  yet  the  efforts  of  Cromwell  and  his 
soldiers  were  never  excelled  but  by  the  Orangeman,  as  we 
shall  see,  under  the  fostering  care  of  the  younger  Pitt  in  his 
determination  to  force  the  people  into  the  uprising  of  1798. 

After  the  Restoration  the  condition  of  the  Irish  people 
was  in  no  way  improved  either  during  the  reign  of  Charles 
or  James.  In  many  respects  they  fared  worse,  through  the 
cowardly  and  treacherous  course  of  James  II.  who  deserted 
the  Irish  after  having  induced  them  to  support  his  claim  as 
their  rightful  King.  The  Irish  people  had  no  cause  to  like 
any  member  of  the  Stuart  family  and  did  not  give  their 

and  of  any  head  so  cut  in  the  County  of  Meath,  that  the  cutters  of  the  said 
head  and  his  ayders  there  to  him,  cause  the  said  head  so  cut  off  to  be  brought 
to  the  portresse  of  the  Town  of  Trim,  and  the  said  portresse  to  put  it  on  a 
stake  or  spear  upon  the  Castle  of  Trim,  and  that  the  said  portresse  shall  his 
writing,  under  the  common  seal  of  the  said  town,  testifying  the  bringing  of 
said  head  and  his  ayders  for  the  same,  for  to  distrain  and  levy  by  their  own 
hands  of  every  man  having  half  a  plough  land  in  the  said  baronny,  one  penny, 
and  every  other  man  having  one  house  and  goods  to  the  value  of  forty  shill- 
ings, one  penny,  and  of  every  other  cottier  having  house  and  smoak,  one  half 
penny,  etc." — J.  B.  Brown,  On  Laws  against  Catholics.  With  no  penalty  for 
murdering  an  Irishman,  and  with  a  reward  to  be  gained  without  question,  it 
was  a  common  circumstance,  probably,  under  this  law  to  have  imagined  every 
man  as  "coming  or  going  to  rob,"  so  that  time  and  opportunity  only  were 
needed,  in  such  cases,  for  the  extermination  of  the  Irish  race. 


no  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

adherence  to  James  as  Catholics,  for  he  had  caused  no  mitiga- 
tion to  be  made  of  the  severe  Cromwellian  laws  which  had 
remained  in  force  against  the  practice  of  their  religion. 

As  a  man  he  was  generally  detested  by  them.  But,  to 
their  misfortune,  they  were  induced  to  give  to  him,  as  King 
of  Ireland,  the  support  of  loyal  subjects  and  as  such  they 
wore  the  British  uniform  and  bore  the  British  standard 
throughout,  until  the  cause  was  lost  in  final  defeat  through 
James'  cowardice  at  the  battle  of  the  Boyne.  And  yet  so- 
called  history  has  been  so  distorted  that  a  general  impres- 
sion exists  that  the  Irish  fought  at  the  battle  of  the  Boyne 
against  the  English  Government  and  this  circumstance  is 
constantly  referred  to  by  their  countrymen,  the  "loyal 
Orangemen,"  as  if  it  were  to  the  discredit  of  the  Irish  to 
have  fought  against  a  man  who  at  that  time  was  nothing 
but  a  usurper.  The  occurrence  is  a  rare  one  where  so 
large  a  number  of  Irish  people  make  the  mistake  of  being 
on  the  side  of  the  English  Government,  yet  it  is  scarcely 
just,  under  the  circumstances,  that  they  should  have  suffered 
so  long  for  an  error  in  judgment. 

The  surrender  of  Limerick  completed  the  subjugation  of 
Ireland  by  William  of  Orange. 

A  civil  and  military  treaty  was  executed  between  William, 
as  the  then  representative  of  the  English,  and  the  Catholic 
portion  of  the  Irish  people.  The  first  article  of  this  treaty, 
as  agreed  upon,  was : 

"  I.  The  Roman  Catholics  of  this  Kingdom  shall  enjoy  such 
privileges  in  the  exercise  of  their  religion,  as  are  consistent  with 
the  laws  of  Ireland;  or  as  they  did  enjoy  in  the  reign  of  King 
Charles  the  Second ;  and  their  majesties,  as  soon  as  their  affairs  will 
permit  them  to  sinmnon  a  parliament  in  this  Kingdom,  will  endeavor 
to  procure  the  said  Roman  Catholics  such  further  security  in  that 
particular  as  may  preserve  them  from  ajiy  disturbance  upon  the 
account  of  their  said  religion. 

This  treaty  was  signed  by  the  Lords  Justices  of  Ireland  and 
by  William  and  Mary  under  the  Great  Seal  of  England. 


Duplicity  of  William  of  Orange         1 1 1 

The  Irish  people  in  good  faith  carried  out  their  obligations 
to  the  minutest  detail.  But  William  III.  totally  disregarded 
his  word,  as  though  it  were  a  privilege  vested  in  the  position 
he  held  to  ignore  the  most  solemn  pledge  under  all  circum- 
stances wherever  the  Irish  people  were  a  party  to  the  con- 
tract. William's  course,  however,  with  the  Irish  was 
perfectly  consistent  with  that  attending  his  coming  into 
England  as  a  pretender  and  under  the  cloak  of  religion.  In 
this  respect  he  was  guilty  of  as  much  deception  to  gain  the 
crown  as  ever  Cromwell  practised  for  the  same  position  and 
neither  would  have  been  successful  if  the  majority  of  the 
English  people  had  known  their  purposes  at  the  beginning. 
Curry  has  written  ' : 

"  King  James  was  hardly  ever  noted  for  his  duplicity  of  con- 
duct; this  can't  be  said  of  his  competitor  for  the  crown.  The 
Prince  of  Orange,  in  a  letter  to  the  Emperor,  acquainting  him 
with  his  intended  expedition  into  England,  says — T  assure  your 
Imperial  Majesty,  by  this  letter,  that  whatever  reports  have  been 
spread,  and  notwithstanding  those,  which  may  be  spread  for  the 
future,  /  have  not  the  least  intentio7i  to  do  any  hurt  to  his  Britannic 
Majesty^  or  to  those  zvho  have  a  right  to  pretend  to  the  succession  of 
his  Kingdoms^  atid  still  less  to  make  an  attempt  upon  the  crown. ' 
And  a  little  after: — '  I  ought  to  intreat  your  Imperial  Majesty  to 
be  assured,  that  /  will  employ  all  my  credit  to  provide,  that  the 
Roman  Catholics  of  that  Country  may  enjoy  liberty  of  conscience,  and 
be  put  out  of  fear  of  being  persecuted  on  account  of  their  religion. '  * 
Not  only  the  Emperor  but  the  Pope  himself  were  cajoled  by  these 
deceitful  assurances." 

William  made  not  the  slightest  effort  to  improve  the  con- 
dition of  the  Irish  Catholics  but  on  the  contrary  he  enforced 
the  Penal  Code  rigidly  and  increased  its  severity  by  every 
means  in  his  power.  A  man  guilty  of  the  treachery  that 
William  committed  in  ordering  the  brutal  massacre  of  Mac- 
donald  and  his  clan  at  Glencoe,  in  1692,  several  weeks  after 

'Note  C,  p.  346. 

'  Sir  John  Dalrymple,  Memoirs,  vol.  iii.,  p.  170,  and  Appendix. 


112  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

they  had  surrendered  their  arms,  had  complied  with  every 
term  and  had  even  taken  the  oath  of  allegiance,  would  not 
hesitate  at  so  small  a  matter  as  perjury.  His  violation  of 
the  treaty  of  Limerick  and  his  whole  course  towards  the 
Irish  people  were  consistent  with  the  man  and  his  "piety." 

He  hated  the  people  of  Ireland  and  as  we  shall  see  here- 
after he  destroyed,  at  an  early  period  of  his  reign,  their 
commerce  and  manufactories  so  that  he  beggared  the  Prot- 
estants of  the  north,  who  had  been  most  active  in  his  cause. 

Had  William,  as  King  of  Ireland,  mitigated  even  to  a 
moderate  degree  the  intolerance  exercised  against  the  Catho- 
lics the  Irish  people  would  have  become  loyal  to  the  British 
Government.  But  he  forced  a  spirit  of  bigotry  into  every 
relation  with  Ireland,  so  that  even  the  most  insignificant  po- 
litical circumstance  of  the  eighteenth  century,  to  be  under- 
stood, must  be  considered  in  the  light  of  a  partisan  either 
from  a  Catholic  or  Protestant  standpoint. 

The  violation  of  the  treaty  of  Limerick  by  William  III. 
and  the  ignoring  of  its  obligations  by  Anne  and  the  Georges 
afterwards  led  to  disastrous  consequences.  No  other  event 
or  circumstance  connected  with  Irish  history  has  been  pro- 
ductive of  so  much  misery  to  the  Irish  people  as  this  want 
of  good  faith  on  the  part  of  the  English  Government. 

By  the  "Rebellion  "  of  1798  the  culmination  was  reached, 
after  nearly  a  century  of  suffering,  and  the  exhausted  con- 
dition of  the  people  rendered  possible  the  crime  perpetrated 
against  Ireland  by  the  so-called  Union.  No  other  people 
have  ever  suffered  for  so  long  a  period  with  as  yet  no  light 
for  the  future,  so  far  as  it  rests  with  the  British  Government. 

Scully  states  '  in  reference  to  the  violation  of  the  treaty 
of  Limerick : 

"  Breach  of  engagement  in  this  case  was  a  violation  of  national 
honour  which  was  one  enormity — and  it  was  a  barefaced  and 
violent  appropriation  of  property  without  value  given,  which  was 
another.     It  was  at  once  dishonourable  and  dishonest.      It  was 

'  Tracts  on  Ireland,  Politically  and  Statistically,  Dublin,  1824,  pp.  S9-93. 


Perjury  of  William  of  Orange  113 

not  only  the  refusing  to  give  horse  for  horse,  or  drapery  for  corn, 
pursuant  to  solemn  stipulation,  but  it  was  a  seizure  of  all  the 
goods  for  one's  own  use,  effected  equally  by  fraud  and  violence 
and  which  left  the  aggrieved  party  not  only  without  the  power  of 
redress,  but  without  even  the  privilege  of  remonstrance.  In  a 
word,  the  violation  of  the  Treaty  of  Limerick,  under  all  the  cir- 
cumstances, stands  forth  in  the  page  of  history,  an  unique,  an 
isolated  and  perfectly  matchless  specimen  of  national  perfidy. 
It  was  at  once  the  most  flagitious  and  most  protracted  example 
of  public  faithlessness.  The  work  of  treachery  formed  a  sort  of 
periodical  employment  for  villainous  politicians  throughout  nearly 
a  century.  The  commencement  was  in  the  time  of  the  man  who 
tendered  half  the  tithes  and  Church  lands  to  the  Priests — and 
the  last  act  of  baseness  was  not  witnessed  until  an  advanced 
period  of  the  reign  of  George  the  Third.  The  History  of  the 
Penal  Code  is  the  History  of  the  Violation  of  the  Treaty  of 
Limerick — and  this  history  a  man  cannot  adequately  relate  in 
fewer  pages  than  are  necessary  to  describe  the  principal  domestic 
transactions  of  five  reigns  ! 

"After  all  forms  of  sanction  were  gone  through  with  by  all  the 
authorities  in  Ireland  the  articles  received  the  sign  and  seal  of 
ratification  from  the  hands  of  William  and  Mary  in  England  and 
received  this  sign  and  this  seal  on  the  24th  of  February  1692,  that 
is  about  four  months  after  the  articles  were  finally  agreed  upon 
in  Ireland.  There  is  a  certain  document  enrolled  in  chancery 
which  contains  these  words: — 

"  'And  whereas  the  said  city  of  Limerick,  hath  been  since,  in 
pursuance  of  the  said  articles,  surrendered  unto  us — Now  Know 
ye,  that  we  having  considered  of  the  said  articles,  are  graciously 
pleased  hereby  to  declare,  that  ive  do  for  us,  our  heirs,  and  succes- 
sors, as  far  as  in  us  lies,  ratify  and  confirni  the  same,  and  every 
clause,  matter  and  thing  there  in  contained. ' 

"  This  was  enrolled  on  the  5th  of  April  1692  and  no  doubt  it 
is  to  be  seen  to  this  day  with  the  Great  Seal  of  England  attached 
to  it — so  that  if  the  articles  were  not  valid,  it  was  not  because 
there  was  not  enough  of  ceremony  and  formality  used  in  giving 
them  due  '  power  and  effect  in  law.'  " 

After  Cromweirs  death  the  people  of  Ireland  ceased  to 


114  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

be  harassed  by  indiscriminate  robbery  and  general  massacre 
but  individual  suffering  among  those  belonging  to  the  Catho- 
lic faith  was  general  since  the  law  gave  no  protection  against 
the  cruelties  practised,  under  the  slightest  pretext,  by  any 
one  entrusted  with  the  briefest  authority.  For  more  than 
a  century  the  country  was  governed  through  the  influence 
of  the  descendants  of  the  soldiers  and  adherents  of  William 
of  Orange.  They  formed  a  small  yet  distinct  portion  of  the 
Protestant,  or  Church  of  England,  population  and  they  were 
most  intolerant  to  all  who  differed  from  them  in  either  re- 
ligion or  politics.  They  became  afterward  more  organized 
and  we  shall  see  that  as  Orangemen,  with  the  protection  of 
the  English  Government  throughout,  they  were  most  active 
in  rousing  the  people  to  outbreaks  and  were  always  as  ready, 
under  the  command  of  British  officers  and  with  the  most 
brutal  cruelty,  to  crush  out  all  resistance.  We  shall  also 
have  occasion  hereafter  to  consider  at  some  length  the  part 
taken  by  the  Orangemen  in  forcing  the  "  rebellion  "  of  the 
people  in  1798  and  in  persecuting  the  Catholics  as  well  as 
the  Presbyterians  under  the  plea  of  maintaining  "Protestant 
ascendancy  as  according  to  law  established." 

The  laws  passed  under  Elizabeth,  James,  Charles  and 
Cromwell  for  the  persecution  of  the  Catholics  in  Ireland 
were  brutal  in  the  extreme.  Yet  under  William  and  Mary 
they  were  amended  in  a  merciless  manner  and  were  per- 
fected by  Queen  Anne's  Government.  During  the  reign  of 
the  Georges  these  penal  laws  were  rigidly  enforced  until 
toward  the  close  of  the  American  Revolution,  when  a  slight 
mitigation  was  gained.  While  the  Volunteer  Movement  was 
active,  a  portion  at  least  of  the  Irish  people  had  brief  control 
of  Irish  affairs. 

As  a  result  of  Lecky's  investigations  he  states  the  follow- 
ing' : 

'Vol.  i.,  pp.  408,  411.  This  historical  writer,  who  terms  the  English  at- 
tempt to  exterminate  the  Catholics  of  Ireland  as  the  "  savage  outbreak  of  1641  " 
by  the  Irish  people,  cannot  be  accused  of  bias  in  any  statement  made  by  him 
in  their  favor. 


Irish  Catholics  Tolerant  in  Religion      115 

"Among  the  Catholics  at  least,  religious  intolerance  has  not 
been  a  prevailing  vice,  and  those  who  have  studied  closely  the 
history  and  the  character  of  the  Irish  people  can  hardly  fail  to  be 
struck  with  the  deep  respect  for  sincere  religion  in  every  form, 
which  they  have  commonly  evinced.  Their  original  conversion 
to  Christianity  was  probably  accompanied  by  less  violence  and 
bloodshed  than  that  of  any  equally  considerable  nation  in  Europe; 
and  in  spite  of  the  fearful  calamities  that  followed  the  Reform- 
ation, it  is  a  memorable  fact  that  not  a  single  Protestant  suffered 
for  his  religion  in  Ireland  during  all  the  period  of  the  Marian  per- 
secution in  England.  The  treatment  of  Bedell  during  the  savage 
outbreak  of  1641,  and  the  Act  establishing  liberty  of  conscience 
passed  by  the  Irish  Parliament  of  1689  in  the  full  flush  of  the 
brief  Catholic  ascendency  under  James  the  Second,  exhibit  very 
remarkably  this  aspect  of  the  Irish  character;  and  it  was  dis- 
played in  another  form  scarcely  less  vividly  during  the  Quaker 
Missions,  which  began  towards  the  close  of  the  Commonwealth, 
and  continued  with  little  intermission  for  two  generations. 

"  This  curious  page  of  Irish  history  is  but  little  known.  The 
first  regular  Quaker  meeting  in  Ireland  was  established  in  Lurgan 
by  an  old  Cromwellian  soldier  named  William  Edmundson  about 
1654.  In  the  following  year  the  new  creed  spread  widely  in 
Youghall  and  in  Cork,  and  speedily  extended  to  Limerick  and 
Kilkenny.  George  Fox  himself  came  to  Ireland  in  1669.  It  was 
at  Cork  that  William  Penn  was  drawn  into  the  Quaker  community 
by  the  preaching  of  a  Quaker  named  (Thomas)  Loe,  and  a 
swarm  of  missionaries  came  over  from  England  advocating  their 
strange  doctrines  with  a  strange  fanaticism. 

* '  The  experience  of  Wesley  half  a  century  later  was  very  similar.' 
He  certainly  found  more  eager  and  more  respectful  listeners 
among  the  Catholics  of  Ireland  than  in  most  parts  of  England, 
and  he  has  more  than  once  in  his  'jfournal  spoken  in  terms  of 
warm  appreciation  of  the  docile  and  tolerant  spirit  he  almost 
everywhere  encountered,"  * 

Lecky  also  asserts  in  the  same  connection : 

'  Lecky,  vol.  i.,  p.  411. 

*  It  was  in  a  good-natured  controversy  with  Wesley,  who  objected  to  the  be- 
lief in  Purgatory,  that  the  Rev.  Arthur  O'Leary  answered  :  "That  he  could 
have  his  way  and  might  go  farther  and  fare  worse." 


ii6  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

"  No  feature  in  the  social  history  of  Ireland  is  more  remarkable 
than  the  almost  absolute  security  which  the  Protestant  clergy, 
scattered  thinly  over  wild  Catholic  districts,  have  usually  enjoyed 
during  the  worst  periods  of  organized  crime  and  the  very  large 
measure  of  respect  and  popularity  they  have  almost  invariably 
commanded,  whenever  they  abstained  from  interfering  with  the 
religion  of  their  neighbours." 

Mr.  Adler,  the  chief  Rabbi  of  the  Jews,  stated  in  1871  at 
a  large  public  meeting  held  in  Dublin  and  reported  in  the 
Jezvish  Chronicle,  July  21st  of  that  year:  "He  had  long 
been  anxious  for  many  reasons  to  visit  this  beautiful  country ; 
and  amongst  others — because  it  was  the  only  country  in 
which  his  ancestors  had  not  been  persecuted." 

From  the  earliest  Christian  date  the  Jews  received  the 
fullest  degree  of  sufferance  from  the  Irish  Catholics  and  a 
secure  asylum  was  afforded  all  of  that  race  throughout  a 
long  period,  when  in  England  they  were  subjected  to  most 
grievous  persecution. 

Having  shown  that  the  Irish  Catholics  have  always  been 
tolerant  as  to  the  religious  views  held  by  others  it  may  be 
claimed  that  this  spirit  of  liberality  has  existed  as  a  charac- 
teristic of  the  race ;  in  proof  whereof  and  as  a  pertinent 
fact,  the  claim  is  justly  made  that  Christianity  was  intro- 
duced into  Ireland  without  bloodshed  and  that  in  no  other 
country  was  this  accomplished  in  like  manner. 


CHAPTER   VII 

THE  "volunteer  MOVEMENT"  IN  ULSTER  —  ENGLAND 
GRANTS  CONCESSIONS  TO  THE  IRISH  PEOPLE  AFTER 
THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION  AND  ACKNOWLEDGES 
IRELAND  TO  BE  A  DISTINCT  KINGDOM  —  EFFORT  OF 
THE  PRESBYTERIANS  OF  ULSTER  TO  GAIN  RELIGIOUS 
FREEDOM  FOR  THE  CATHOLICS  —  WHO  WERE  THE 
"SCOTCH-IRISH"  ?— INDUSTRIES  OF  THE  NORTH  OF 
IRELAND  DESTROYED  BY  WILLIAM — EMIGRATION  OF 
OPERATORS  TO  FRANCE — THEY  ESTABLISHED  THE  DIF- 
FERENT INDUSTRIES  NOW  EXISTING  IN  THAT  COUNTRY 
— BEGINNING  OF  THE  ORGANIZATION  OF  "THE  UNITED 
IRISHMEN  " 

The  "Volunteer  Movement  "  in  Ireland  had  its  origin 
among  the  Presbyterians  of  the  North  and  it  was  confined 
chiefly  to  those  of  that  denomination,  with  a  few  individuals 
who  belonged  to  the  Established  Church.  The  object  of 
the  movement  at  first  was  to  provide  for  the  defence  of  the 
country  against  an  expected  invasion  of  the  French. 

As  the  English  Government  was  unable  to  furnish  troops 
for  the  purpose  of  defence,  the  non-Catholic  portion  of  the 
people  of  Ulster  were  allowed  to  enroll  themselves  as  a 
military  organization  and  arms  were  furnished  them.  When 
the  pressing  need  for  the  organization  ceased  and  the  atten- 
tion of  the  members  became  less  occupied  with  military 
matters  the  desire  became  general  for  obtaining  certain 
measures  of  reform  which  had  become  necessary  for  the 
future  prosperity  of  the  country. 

"7 


ii8  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

On  December  28,  1781,  the  first  Ulster  regiment  assem- 
bled at  Armagh  under  the  command  of  Lord  Charlemont. 
Certain  resolutions  were  passed  as  to  the  necessity  for  root- 
ing out  from  Parliament  the  corruption  and  the  influence 
exerted  by  the  English  Court.  To  advance  this  object  a 
meeting  was  called,  to  be  held  at  Dungannon  on  the  follow- 
ing February  15,  1782,  of  delegates  from  the  different 
Volunteer  corps  of  Ulster. 

Delegates  from  143  corps  of  Ulster  Volunteers,  consti- 
tuting twenty-five  thousand  armed  men,  assembled  at  the 
appointed  time  and  organized  themselves  as  a  deliberating 
body.  The  first  action  taken  was  the  passage,  by  a  unani- 
mous vote,  of  a  resolution  that  "a  citizen  by  learning  the 
use  of  arms  does  not  abandon  any  of  his  civil  rights." 

A  full  discussion  was  then  entered  upon  as  to  the  general 
state  of  the  country.  Newenham,*  who  was  probably  present 
at  this  meeting,  has  furnished  the  following  epitome: 

"  On  the  15th  of  February,  1782,  at  a  meeting  of  the  repre- 
sentatives of  143  corps  of  Volunteers,  at  Dungannon,  in  the  pro- 
vince of  Ulster,  where  the  Protestants  and  Protestant  Dissenters 
are  most  numerous,  it  was  resolved,  that  a  claim  of  any  body  of 
men,  otlier  than  the  King,  Lords  and  Commons  of  Ireland,  to 
make  laws  to  bind  that  Kingdom,  was  unconstitutional,  illegal 
and  a  grievance;  that  the  power  exercised  by  the  privy  councils 
of  both  Kingdoms,  under  colour  or  pretence  of  the  law  of  Poyn- 
ings,  was  unconstitutional  and  a  grievance;  that  a  mutiny-bill, 
not  limited  in  point  of  duration,  from  session  to  session,  was  un- 
constitutional and  a  grievance ;  that  the  ports  of  Ireland  were,  by 
right,  open  to  all  foreign  countries  not  at  war  with  the  King;  and 
that  any  burden  thereupon  or  obstruction  thereto,  save  only  by 
the  parliament  of  Ireland,  was  unconstitutional,  illegal  and  a 
grievance.  The  representatives  of  these  volunteers  also  declared, 
that  they  held  the  right  of  private  judgement,  in  matters  of  re- 
ligion, to  be  equally  sacred  in  others  as  themselves;  and  that 
therefore  as  men,  as  Irishmen,  as  Christians  and  as  Protestants 

*  A  Vieiv  of  the  Natural,  Political  and  Co?nniercial  Circumstances  of  Ireland, 
London,  1809,  p.  195. 


Perfidy  of  the  British  Parliament        119 

they  rejoiced  in  the  relaxation  of  the  penal  laws  against  their 
Roman  Catholic  fellow-subjects;  and  that  they  conceived  the 
measure  to  be  fraught  with  the  happiest  consequences  to  the 
union  and  prosperity  of  the  inhabitants  of  Ireland." 

Other  measures  were  determined  upon  but  it  is  not  neces- 
sary to  enter  into  detail.  The  action  taken  by  this  body 
assembled  at  Dungannon  had  a  remarkable  effect  in  uniting 
throughout  the  country  all  classes  in  a  demand  upon  the 
English  Government  for  certain  reformatory  measures 
deemed  necessary  for  the  future  prosperity  of  the  country. 

The  British  Government  was  yet  in  too  exhausted  a  con- 
dition, after  the  close  of  the  American  Revolution,  to  refuse 
and  concessions  were  reluctantly  granted ;  but,  as  subsequent 
events  prove,  there  existed  a  secret  reservation  on  the  part 
of  the  English  ministers  to  ignore  the  pledge  of  the  Govern- 
ment as  soon  as  the  latter  became  strong  enough  to  do  so. 

According  toLecky  * :  "Lord  North  himself  described  the 
concessions  to  the  Irish  as  'resumable  at  pleasure.'  " 

The  chief  concession  gained  in  1782  was  the  acknowledg- 
ment of  the  Irish  kingdom  and  the  independence  of  the 
Irish  Parliament  from  the  influence  of  the  English  Govern- 
ment ;  thus  Home  Rule  was  obtained  by  a  people  essentially 
united  in  favor  of  general  reform  and  religious  tolerance. 

The  act  of  the  British  Parliament  was  as  follows : 

"Be  it  declared  and  enacted  by  the  King's  most  Excellent 
Majesty,  by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Lords 
spiritual  and  temporal  and  Commons,  in  this  present  Parliament 
assembled,  and  by  the  authority  of  the  same,  that  the  said  right 
claimed  by  the  people  of  Ireland,  to  be  bound  only  by  laws 
enacted  by  His  Majesty  and  the  Parliament  of  that  Kingdom,  in 
all  cases  whatever,  and  to  have  all  actions  and  suits  at  law  or  in 
equity,  which  may  be  instituted  in  that  Kingdom,  decided  in  His 
Majesty's  Courts  therein  finally,  and  without  appeal  from  thence, 
shall  be  and  is  hereby  declared  to  be  established  and  ascertained  for- 
ever and  shall  at  no  time  hereafter  be  questioned  or  questionable. ' '  * 

'Vol.  ii.,  p.  251. 

^British  Statute,  1783,  23d  George  III.,  chap,  xxviii. 


I20  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

The  Kingdom  of  Ireland,  as  claimed  by  the  Irish  people, 
was  by  this  act  acknowledged  an  independent  State,  free 
from  English  authority,  as  "hereby  declared  to  be  established 
aitd  ascertained  forever  and  shall  at  no  time  hereafter  be  ques- 
tioned or  questionable. ' '  Could  it  be  possible  for  any  nation 
in  good  faith  to  give  a  more  binding  pledge,  whereby  its 
honor  was  guaranteed  forever  by  all  State  authority?  Yet 
England,  with  her  total  disregard  for  all  obligation  of  honor, 
(which  trait  has  been  so  frequently  pointed  out  in  her  rela- 
tion at  least  with  Ireland)  as  usual  violated  her  pledge 
when  it  was  to  her  interest  to  do  so.  Notwithstanding  that 
the  Irish  Parliament  had  become  corrupt  through  the  in- 
fluence of  the  English  Government,  and  its  members  were 
from  a  minority  of  the  people,  they  were  Irishmen  and  were 
never  totally  oblivious  to  the  best  interests  of  their  country. 
Ireland,  therefore,  began  to  prosper  as  soon  as  the  members 
of  her  Parliament  were  left  comparatively  free.  Grattan 
stated  in  1800: 

"I  value  the  Parliamentary  constitution,  by  the  average  of  its 
benefit;  and  I  afifirm  that  the  blessings  procured  by  the  Irish 
Parliament  in  the  last  twenty  years  are  greater  than  all  the  bless- 
ings offered  by  the  British  Parliament  to  Ireland  for  the  last 
century — greater  even  than  the  mischiefs  inflicted  upon  Ireland 
by  the  British  Parliament — greater  than  all  the  blessings  procured 
by  these  Parliaments  for  their  own  country  within  that  period." 

But  the  Irish  Parliament  was  so  constituted  that  only  Pro- 
testants or  those  who  conformed  to  the  Established  Church 
could  occupy  a  seat  and  this  small  minority  of  the  popula- 
tion was  almost  entirely  in  favor  of  the  English  Government. 
Moreover,  the  system  by  which  its  members  were  returned 
was  necessarily  a  corrupt  one,  as  about  thirty  private  indi- 
viduals could  return  a  sufficient  number  of  members  to  form  a 
majority  in  the  House  of  Commons  and  about  one  hundred 
persons  could  command  a  two-thirds  vote  of  the  whole.' 

'  The  existence  of  an  English  Parliament  was  always  limited  in  duration  and 
frequently  a  new  election  was  called  for  with  a  change  of  ministry.     But  in 


English  Corruption  of  the  Irish  Parliament  1 2 1 

Mr.  Arthur  O'Connor  was  a  member  of  the  Irish  Parlia- 
ment about  this  time  and,  after  his  arrest  several  years  later 
with  Mr.  Thos.  Addis  Emmet  and  Dr.  McNeven,  who 
formed  the  Directory  of  the  United  Irishmen,  he  was  ex- 
amined August  16,  1798,  before  the  secret  Committee  of  the 
Irish  House  of  Commons  and  gave  the  following  testimony  ' : 

''O' Connor.  The  lowest  societies  of  the  Union  conversed 
freely  of  the  corruption,  the  usurpation  and  venality  of  parlia- 
ment. While  I  was  a  member  of  the  House  of  Commons,  you 
know  the  frequent  conversation  among  the  members  was,  How 
much  has  such  an  one  given  for  his  seat  ?  From  whom  did  he 
purchase  ?  Has  not  such  a  one  sold  his  borough  ?  Has  not  such 
a  lord  bought  it  ?  Has  not  such  a  peer  so  many  members  in  this 
house?  Was  not  such  a  member  with  the  lord  lieutenant's  secre- 
tary, to  insist  on  some  greater  place  or  pension  ?  Did  not  the 
secretary  refuse  it  ?  Has  he  not  gone  into  the  opposition  ? 
These,  and  such  like  facts,  are  as  well  known  to  the  lower  classes 
of  the  Union  as  to  ourselves. 

"^  Member  of  the  Committee.  Mr.  O'Connor  is  perfectly  right; 
I  have  heard  the  lower  classes  of  the  people  talk  in  that  style. 

''O'  Connor.  The  people  are  conscious  you  are  self-constituted, 
and  not  their  delegates;  men  who  have  no  other  object  in  view 
but  to  advance  your  own  individual  interests. 

''A  Member  of  the  Committee.  That  we  are  a  parcel  of  place- 
men and  pensioners  ? 

"O^ Connor.     Exactly  so." 

Dr.  McNeven,  before  the  same  Committee,  testified': 

"As  the  Parliament  now  exists,  with  two-thirds  of  it  (if  I  may 
be  allowed  to  speak  frankly)  the  property  of  individuals  in  the 

Ireland  it  was  different,  so  that  there  could  be  no  special  change  during  any 
one  reign.  After  once  that  body  had  been  "  packed,"  so  as  to  be  subservient, 
it  was  only  necessary  to  fill  when  needed  the  vacancies  caused  by  death.  In 
the  reign  of  George  II.  the  Irish  Parliament  remained  in  existence  for  thirty- 
three  years. 

'  The  United  Irishmen,  their  Lives  and  Times,  etc.,  by  Dr.  R.  R.  Madden, 
Dublin,  1858,  2d  series,  p.  321. 

^Pieces  of  Irish  History,  etc.,  New  York,  1807,  p.  248. 


122  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

pay  of  the  British  Cabinet,  the  connection  is  indeed  injurious  to 
Ireland,  and  it  is  rendered  so  by  the  parHament;  but  if  we  had  a 
free  parliament,  there  might  be  a  federal  connection  advantage- 
ous to  both  countries." 

For  a  short  period  the  Irish  Parliament  even  as  consti- 
tuted, through  the  efforts  of  a  few  patriotic  members,  made 
some  response  to  the  demands  of  the  people.  But  even- 
tually by  the  influence  and  intrigue  of  the  British  Ministry 
no  radical  reform  could  be  brought  about,  yet  publicly 
the  English  Government  seemed  to  favor  the  wishes  of  the 
people.  The  cloven  foot,  however,  was  only  concealed 
during  England's  difficulties,  so  long  as  she  was  pressed  for 
funds  and  provisions  and  needed  Irishmen  to  recruit  her 
army  and  navy. 

The  movement  to  obtain  from  the  English  Government  a 
repeal  of  the  Penal  laws,  which  so  grievously  burdened  the 
Catholics  of  Ireland,  originated,  as  has  been  stated,  with  the 
Presbyterians  or  Dissenters  of  Ulster.  While  they  suffered 
much  in  common  with  the  Catholics,  their  efforts  were  cer- 
tainly prompted  by  a  true  Christian  spirit.  That  they  did 
not  succeed  was  due  to  the  fiendish  and  crafty  policy  of  the 
English  Government  in  exciting  religious  enmity  among  the 
people  and  in  finally  forcing  the  "Rebellion  "  of  1798  that 
the  "Union  "  might  be  the  more  readily  accomplished. 

It  may  be  proudly  claimed  that  at  no  time  has  individual 
patriotism  for  the  welfare  of  Ireland  ever  rested  on  a  re- 
ligious basis.  The  Presbyterians  and  the  Protestants  have 
in  the  past  furnished  the  majority  of  the  leaders  and,  while 
the  Catholics  as  a  whole  have  been  for  centuries  in  opposi- 
tion to  the  English  Government,  instances  have  not  been 
wanting  where  among  them  individuals  have  sold  their  birth- 
right and  proved  traitors  to  their  country."  ' 

'  Thomas  Reynolds,  a  Catholic  gentleman  by  birth  and  means,  who  had  been 
fully  trusted  by  his  associates,  gave  to  the  Government  the  first  important  in- 
formation which  led  to  the  arrest  of  the  leaders  in  the  movement  of  1798.  So 
long  as  Irish  history  exists  he  will  be  known  as  "  Reynolds  the  Informer"  and 
the  malediction  of  his  countrymen  for  all  time  will  be  associated  with  his  name. 


Who  Were  the  ''  Scotch-Irish  "  ?        123 

Religious  bigotry  in  Ireland  after  Cromwell's  day  was  con- 
fined chiefly  to  the  descendants  of  the  followers  of  William 
of  Orange,  who  ultimately  became  known  as  the  Orangemen, 
a  small  but  select  body  among  the  Protestants  with  whom 
religion  seemed  to  have  been  used  as  a  cloak  for  political 
purposes.  Notwithstanding  their  limited  number,  they  have 
been  prominently  in  favor  with  the  English  Government  and 
have  secretly  been  protected  by  it  under  all  circumstances 
in  return  for  services  rendered  which  would  not  always  bear 
publicity.  They  have  been  the  demons  of  discord  in  Ire- 
land and  have  been  so  barbarous  in  their  cruel  treatment 
of  the  Catholics,  whenever  they  have  had  an  opportunity, 
that  it  will  be  necessary  hereafter  to  devote  considerable 
space  in  which  to  do  them  justice. 

The  Presbyterians  of  Ulster,  who  lived  at  times  amicably 
with  their  Catholic  neighbors,  are  frequently  termed  "Scotch- 
Irish"  by  those  who  are  ignorant  of  their  origin.  The  term, 
which  is  of  recent  origin,  has  been  generally  used  to  desig- 
nate a  class  of  people  who,  as  Protestants  and  in  consequence 
of  their  religious  belief,  were  thus  supposed  to  escape  the 
discredit  of  being  Irish,  although  they  and  their  ancestors 
may  have  lived  in  Ulster  for  generations.  As  the  term 
Scotch-Irish  is  so  frequently  used  and  the  people  so  termed 
are  so  often  confused  with  the  Presbyterian  descendants 
from  the  Cromwellian  soldiers  who  came  into  Ulster  at  a 
later  period,  it  will  be  necessary  to  make  a  digression  and 
show  who  they  were. 

James  I.  drove  the  Catholics  out  of  Ulster,  many  of 
whom  were  of  Scotch  descent,  and  settled  up  the  country 
with  people  from  the  upper  portion  of  England  and  from 
along  the  border-lands  of  Scotland ;  these  have  since  been 
called  the  Scotch-Irish,  Few  of  them,  however,  could  lay 
the  slightest  claim  to  a  Scotch  origin  except  in  comparatively 
rare  instances  by  the  mere  accident  of  their  birth.  What 
remained  of  the  old  Scotch  stock  had  been  to  a  great  extent 
driven  into  the  Highlands  and  those  left  in  the  Lowlands 
had  little  sympathy  for  the  English.     This  was  due  to  the 


124  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

fact  that  the  original  Scotch  and  Irish  were  of  the  same  race 
and,  with  constant  intercourse  between  them,  the  Highlander 
was  in  full  sympathy  with  his  relative  in  Ireland  who  had 
been  displaced  by  the  English.  The  truth  is  that  many  of 
James's  settlers  in  Ulster  were  from  the  English  who  over- 
ran the  north  of  Ireland  during  the  reign  of  Queen  Eliza- 
beth and  were  afterwards  induced  to  take  part  in  the  wars 
between  England  and  Scotland.  They,  therefore,  simply 
returned  without  having  gained  anything  of  the  Scotch  ele- 
ment, which  they  despised.  Moreover,  many  of  these  settlers 
at  that  time  came  from  along  the  border  counties  of  Eng- 
land and  were  of  such  a  mongrel  race  that  it  would  be  dififi- 
cult  by  their  names  to  determine  their  nationality ;  but  they 
held  in  common  with  their  co-settlers  as  cordial  a  hatred  of 
the  Scotch.' 

If  the  descendants  of  these  people  are  ' '  Scotch-Irish, ' '  the 
question  becomes  one  of  interest  to  determine  at  what  period 
in  their  development  did  they,  who  to  begin  with  were  of  a 
mongrel  race  of  English  and  foreigners,  cease  to  be  Anglo- 
Irish,  Irish-Scotch,  Scotch-Irish,  and  finally  reach,  as  it  is 
supposed  they  did,  the  honor  of  being  Irishmen ;  then  if 
they  emigrated  to  America  or  elsewhere  as  Irishmen,  how 
or  where  did  they  acquire  the  Scotch  element  again  ?* 

In  consequence  of  the  hatred  of  William  III.  for  the  Irish 
people  he  caused  the  woollen  manufactures  and  other  in- 
dustries of  the  north  of  Ireland  to  be  destroyed,  as  we  will 
show  when  considering  the  commercial  condition  of  the 
country.  The  ' '  Scotch-Irish"manufacturers  were  chiefly  beg- 
gared and  many  thousands  of  them  emigrated  to  France 
and  established  in  that  country  woollen  and  silk  and  other 
industries  which  for  nearly  two  hundred  years  have  been  a 
constant  menace  to  England's  trade.  The  "Scotch-Irish," 
then,  emigrated  to  France  or  sought  elsewhere  on  the  Conti- 

'  See  Appendix,  note  7. 

^  We  shall  show  hereafter  that  the  greater  portion  of  the  Presbyterians  of 
Ulster  were  descended  from  Cromwell's  soldiers  after  the  so-called  "  Scotch- 
Irish  "  had  emigrated  to  France. 


Presbyterians  of  Ulster  Persecuted       125 

nent  to  better  their  fortunes  and  Ulster  became  again  gradu- 
ally settled  up  from  England  and  by  Catholics,  Presbyterians 
and  Protestant  Irish  from  different  parts  of  Ireland. 

There  remains  little  doubt  that  after  the  woollen  industries 
of  the  north  had  been  broken  up  early  in  the  eighteenth 
century,  the  so-called  "Scotch-Irish"  emigrated  in  large 
numbers  with  their  families  to  the  Continent.  To  supply 
their  place  many  of  the  descendants  from  Cromwell's  ofificers 
passed  into  Ulster  from  the  inland  counties  of  Ireland, 
where  they  had  been  settled  on  a  smaller  proportion  of  land, 
with  more  bills  of  indebtedness  for  their  services,  and  conse- 
quently had  not  fared  in  many  cases  as  well  as  the  common 
soldier.  These  Presbyterians  had  moved  into  Ulster  with 
a  number  of  Catholics  who  had  begun  to  prosper  by  leasing 
large  grazing  tracts  in  different  parts  of  Ireland.  The  an- 
cestors of  these  Cromwellian  emigrants  had  come  as  a  rule 
from  a  better  class  of  Englishmen,  namely  the  gentry  in  the 
midland  counties  of  England.  After  their  Ulster  settle- 
ment and  after  having  engaged  in  different  forms  of  industry, 
the  English  Government  did  everything  to  destroy  their 
prosperity,  which  caused  them  to  detest  the  authors  of  their 
suffering.  The  English  Toleration  Act,  with  the  usual  in- 
consistency of  that  Government,  was  not  applied  to  Ireland 
and  for  a  long  period  the  non-conformists  were  harassed  in 
their  efforts  to  worship  according  to  the  dictates  of  their 
consciences.  The  sacramental  test,  embodied  in  the  "Anti- 
Popery  Bill"  of  1704,  was  often  exacted  of  them  by  the 
parish  ministers  of  the  Established  Church.  As  they  were 
unable  to  take  the  oath  of  supremacy  they  were  barred,  in 
common  with  the  Catholics,  from  holding  any  ofBcial  posi- 
tion and  they  were  subjected  to  constant  annoyance,  since 
it  was  even  held  by  the  ecclesiastical  courts  that  their  mar- 
riages were  irregular  unless  the  ceremony  was  conducted 
by  a  member  of  the  Established  Church.  They  were  also 
obliged  to  pay  tithes  and  suffered  many  other  privations  in 
common  with  the  Catholics.  After  suffering  for  several 
generations    from    restrictions    and    adversity    many    were 


126  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

forced  to  emis;rate  to  the  American  Colonies.  These  Pres- 
byterians  from  Ulster,  who  were  not  "Scotch-Irish,"  be- 
came prominent  during  our  Revolution  and  served  in  the 
army,  in  the  navy  or  in  the  Continental  Congress,  where 
they  aided  to  a  great  extent  in  formulating  our  unique  sys- 
tem of  federal  and  state  governments.  The  descendants  of 
those  who  remained  in  Ireland  were  nearly  all  United  Irish- 
men in  1798  and  we  shall  see  that  they  were. the  first  active 
advocates  of  religious  tolerance  for  the  Catholics. 
The  writer  has  elsewhere  stated  ' : 


"  The  Presbyterians  who  settled  in  the  North  of  Ireland,  after 
the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth  century,  had  come  chiefly  from 
the  central  portion  of  England  and  as  a  rule  they  represented  the 
better  element  among  the  new  settlers.  They,  like  Cromwell, 
hated  the  Scotch  and  would  never  have  accepted  the  term 
'Scotch-Irish'  for  themselves.  After  the  Restoration  these 
people,  in  common  with  the  Catholics,  were  only  tolerated  as 
non-conformists  and  were  not  allowed  by  the  Protestant  authori- 
ties to  take  any  part  in  public  affairs.  Owing  to  adversity  these 
people  became  in  time  more  tolerant  towards  their  fellow-suf- 
ferers, the  Catholic  portion  of  the  population,  and  were  finally 
moulded  into  a  remarkably  fine  and  self-reliant  type  of  men. 
Those  who  emigrated  to  the  colonies  were  well  fitted  to  help  lay 
the  foundation  of  the  American  Republic  and  those  who  re- 
mained behind  proved  sturdy  patriots.  A  little  more  than  one 
hundred  years  ago  they  originated  in  Belfast  the  United  Irishmen 
movement  and  they  were  the  first  to  make  the  demand  for  re- 
ligious tolerance  in  Ireland,  that  their  Catholic  countrymen  might 
be  free  to  worship  God  according  to  the  dictates  of  their 
conscience." 

For  two  hundred  years  past  Ulster  has  been  gradually 
becoming  less  Protestant,  so  that  at  the  present  time  about 
one-half  of  the  population  belong  to  the  Catholic  faith  and 

'"Irish  Emigration  during  the  Seventeenth  Century,"  Transactions  of  the 
American- 1  risk  Historical  Society,  vol.  ii. 


The  Reasons  for  ** Protestant  Ascendancy"  127 

but  a  small  proportion  of  the  Protestants  are  Orangemen, 
notwithstanding  the  fact  that  this  arrogant  faction  has  suc- 
ceeded in  establishing  abroad  a  different  impression. 

Thomas  Addis  Emmet  has  represented  clearly  the  con- 
dition in  Ireland  towards  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury. He  was  a  member  of  the  Church  of  England  and 
consequently  his  version  in  favor  of  the  Catholics  and  of  the 
conditions  existing  in  Ireland  must  be  accepted  as  one  free 
from  both  prejudice  and  exaggeration. 

He  wrote ' : 

"  Religion  may  be  said  to  have  separated  Ireland  into  two 
people,  the  Protestants  and  Catholics;  the  Protestants  were 
divided  into  the  members  of  the  Church  of  England  and  the  Dis- 
senters. Both  of  these  had  been  in  their  origin  foreign  colonists, 
introduced  and  enriched  in  consequence  of  long  continued  mas- 
sacres and  warfares,  of  confiscations  and  new  grants  of  ousters 
under  the  Popery  Laws,  and  acquisitions  as  Protestant  discov- 
erers; by  all  of  which  the  original  Irish  had  been  systematically 
dispossessed  or  extirpated,  and  the  dependence  of  their  country 
on  another  state  permanently  secured. 

"  The  members  of  the  Church  of  England,  not  exceeding  one- 
tenth  of  the  people,  possessed  almost  the  whole  government  and 
five-sixths  of  the  landed  property  of  the  nation,  which  they  in- 
herited by  odious  and  polluted  titles.  For  a  century  they  had 
nearly  engrossed  the  profits  and  patronage  of  the  Church,  the 
law,  the  revenue,  the  army,  the  navy,  the  magistracy  and  the 
corporations  of  Ireland,  deriving  their  superiority  and  conse- 
quence from  the  interweaving  of  the  ecclesiastical  establishment 
with  the  civil  authority  of  the  country.     Independent  of  religious 

^  Pieces  of  Irish  History^  etc.,  New  York,  1807,  pp.  9-13,  See  Appendix, 
note  8.  Lecky's  criticism  of  this  work  is  as  follows  (vol.  iv.,  p.  254):  "  His 
writings  and  his  examination  before  the  Privy  Council  are  singularly  interesting 
and  instructive  as  showing  the  process  by  which  a  humane,  honorable  and 
scrupulous  man  could  become  the  supporter  of  a  movement  which  was  the 
parent  of  so  many  crimes."  The  criticism  of  Mr.  Emmet's  political  course 
was  no  doubt  just  from  Mr.  Lecky's  standpoint  but  of  less  interest  in  this  con- 
nection than  his  estimation  of  the  value  of  Mr.  Emmet's  political  writings, 
from  which  we  will  make  frequent  quotations. 


128  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

animosity,  their  desire  to  retain  what  they  had  possessed  made 
them  regard  with  aversion  and  mistrust  the  Catholics,  whom  they 
had  oppressed,  and  from  whom  they  dreaded  a  resumption  of 
property,  should  any  change  render  the  measure  practicable;  and 
their  eagerness  to  monopolize  what  they  so  largely  enjoyed  ex- 
cited their  jealousy  of  the  Dissenters,  who  shared  with  them 
somewhat  of  the  emoluments  of  power.  Conscious  also  of  their 
natural  weakness,  they  saw  their  only  security  in  the  superiority 
and  assistance  of  England;  to  the  aggrandizement  of  which  they 
were  therefore  uniformly  devoted. 

"  The  Dissenters,  who  were  originally  settled  for  the  most  part 
in  Ulster,  regarded  no  doubt  with  filial  affection  the  country 
from  whence  they  came,  and  with  contempt  and  dislike  the 
people  whom  they  displaced — they  also  detested  Catholics  with 
the  fanatic  fervour  which  characterized  the  early  disciples  of 
Knox  and  Calvin.  Their  descendants,  however,  possessing  few 
overgrown  landed  properties  and  being  mostly  engaged  in  manu- 
factures and  trade,  did  not  feel  dependence  on  England  as  essen- 
tial to  their  existence  and  happiness.  .  .  .  The  predilection 
for  their  native  country  being  therefore  checked  by  no  extraneous 
causes,  they  gradually  ceased  to  consider  themselves  in  any  other 
light  than  Irishmen — they  became  anxious  for  Ireland's  welfare 
and  sensible  to  its  wrongs.  Lovers  of  liberty,  and  almost  repub- 
licans from  religion,  from  education  and  early  habits,  they  sym- 
pathized with  the  Americans,  when  that  kindred  people  was 
struggling  to  shake  off  the  British  yoke.  .  .  .  They  were 
even  suspected  of  aiming  at  separation  from  England. 

"  The  Catholics  were  the  descendants  of  the  primitive  Irish,  or 
of  those  early  settlers  whom  the  Reformation  had  identified  with 
the  aboriginal  inhabitants.  While  in  the  violence  of  contest,  the 
adherents  of  the  Pope  everywhere  regarded  with  hatred  and 
horror  the  sects  that  had  separated  from  his  church,  unquestion- 
ably the  Irish  Catholic  strongly  participated  in  the  common  feel- 
ing; but  they  were  rapidly  disappearing  from  Ireland  as  in  the 
rest  of  Europe.  Those  men,  however,  still  continued  estranged 
from  their  Protestant  countrymen  by  causes  much  more  substan- 
tial than  religious  bigotry.  They  were  nearly  three-fourths  of 
the  population,  and  instead  of  enjoying  the  estates  of  their  fore- 
fathers,   they   scarcely   possessed    one-fifteenth   of    the   landed 


Mr.  Emmet  on  the  "Popery  Laws"      129 

property  of  the  kingdom.'  To  this  state  they  had  been  reduced 
by  various  causes  which  might  have  been  forgotten  in  the  lapse 
of  years,  but  that  one  still  remained  in  the  code  called  Popery 
Laws,  which  by  its  continued  operation  perpetuated  the  remem- 
brance of  the  past,  excited  resentment  of  the  present,  and  appre- 
hension for  the  future.  Nor  was  that  the  only  injury  they 
experienced  from  these  laws,  which  undermined  the  affections, 
controlled  the  attachments,  restrained  the  industry,  closed  the 
prospects,  prohibited  the  education,  and  punished  the  religion  of 
those  against  whom  they  were  enacted. 

"  The  effect  of  such  a  complicated  system  of  persecution  and 
oppression  upon  its  victims  may  be  easily  conceived.  The 
peasantry  were  reduced  to  a  lamentable  state  of  physical 
wretchedness  and  moral  degradation.  Even  the  gentry  were 
broken  down;  and,  though  individually  brave,  and  characteris- 
tically national,  they  seemed  devoid  of  collective  courage  and 
political  spirit.  The  Catholics  loved  Ireland  with  enthusiasm, 
not  only  as  their  country,  but  as  the  partner  of  their  calamities — 
to  the  actual  interposition  of  England,  or  to  its  immediate  influ- 
ence, they  ascribed  their  sufferings,  civil  and  religious,  with  those 
of  their  forefathers.  Hereditary  hatred  therefore,  and  sense  of 
injury,  had  always  conspired  with  national  pride  and  patriotism, 
to  make  them  adverse  to  the  country,  and  enemies  to  British 
connection." 

The  Catholic  portion  of  the  population  of  Ireland  has  long 
been  charged  with  turbulency  and  with  presenting  the  only 
obstacle  to  the  grateful  acceptance  of  the  paternal  rule  of 
England.  And  yet  it  is  a  singular  circumstance  that  in 
every  outbreak  of  the  Irish  people,  since  the  time  of  Crom- 
well, the  great  majority  of  the  leaders  have  not  been  Catho- 
lics but  Protestants  or  Presbyterians. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  William  Steel  Dickson,  one  of  the  leaders  of 
the  United  Irishmen  in  1798,  and  a  Presbyterian  clergyman 

'  Mr.  Emmet  might  have  stated  that  England,  under  one  pretext  and 
another,  had  confiscated  the  equivalent  of  nearly  the  whole  of  Ireland  no  less 
than  three  times  during  the  previous  two  hundred  years  and  this  land  was 
taken  almost  entirely  from  the  Catholics. 

VOL.  I. — 9. 


130  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

from  the  north  of  Ireland,  states/  in  regard  to  the  nineteen 
other  leaders  confined  with  him  in  Fort  George,  Scotland : 

"  Nor  is  it  unworthy  of  notice,  that  the  number  of  Catholics, 
Presbyterians  and  Protestants  (Church  of  England)  in  our  little 
colony  were  an  inverse  ratio  of  the  number  of  each  denomination 
in  Ireland  at  large.  Perhaps  the  proportion  may  be  stated  as 
follows,  though  not  correctly: 

"  Catholics,  two-thirds  of  the  people — Prisoners,  4. 

"  Presbyterians,  more  than  one-fifth  of  the  people — Prisoners, 
6. 

"  Protestants,  less  than  one-seventh  of  the  people — Prisoners, 
10.' 

"From  this  statement,  a  fact  truly  anomalous,  two  presumptions 
arise:  First.  As  a  majority  of  the  prisoners  were  deemed  prin- 
cipal authors  and  promoters  of  the  Irish  Insurrection,  and,  as 
only  one-fifth  of  the  said  prisoners  were  Catholics;  the  represen- 
tation of  that  insurrection  as  a  'Popish  Rebellion,'  cannot  be 
confided  in  as  the  very  truth;  Secondly.  That  the  Protestant 
Ascendency  in  Ireland,  however  pre-eminent  in  splendid  titles, 
lucrative  offices,  and  overwhelming  power,  has  as  little  pre-emi- 
nence to  boast  of  in  loyalty  as  in  numbers,  where  loyalty  is  left  to 
provide  for  itself. ' ' 

A  "Volunteer  Convention  "  was  held  in  1784,  which  con- 
sisted of  non-Catholics.  The  delegates  from  Belfast  urged 
the  admission  of  Catholics,  with  equal  rights,  that  they 
might  take  part  in  the  movement  about  to  be  initiated  for 
the  purpose  of  obtaining  a  Parliamentary  reform,  but  the 

'  A  Narrative  of  the  Cotifinement  and  Exile  of  Wm.  Steel  Dickson,  D.D., 
Dublin,  1812,  p.  III. 

^  The  terms  Catholic  and  Protestant  are  used  elsewhere  by  the  writer  in  the 
same  sense  that  the  Rev.  Dr.  Dickson  evidently  applies  them — in  the  contra- 
distinction— and  as  the  terms  were  evidently  understood  everywhere  at  that 
time.  It  is  of  very  recent  date  that  the  "Roman"  Catholics  and  the 
"Anglican"  Catholics  have  been  thus  nominally  associated.  Formerly  those 
who  conformed  to  the  "English  Church  as  by  law  established"  were  very 
zealous  in  monopolizing  the  distinction  of  being  "  Protestants."  The  Pres- 
byterians at  that  time  laid  no  claim  to  the  term  and  were  known  among 
Protestants  as  Dissenters  from  the  "  Established  Church  of  England." 


The  Tithes  of  the  "Established  Church"     131 

proposition  was  not  adopted  and  but  little  advance  was 
made  for  several  years  in  overcoming  the  religious  prejudice 
which  had  so  long  existed  among  a  certain  number  of 
Protestants. 

The  progress  of  the  French  Revolution,  however,  became 
in  time  one  of  common  interest  to  both  the  Presbyterians 
and  Catholics  of  the  north. 

In  this  connection  Mr.  Emmet  states  ' : 

"  Another  circumstance  seems  also  to  draw  nearer  together  the 
Catholics  and  Dissenters,  and  to  excite  in  them  a  common  ad- 
miration of  the  revolution;  an  identity  of  opinions  and  interests 
on  the  subject  of  tythes;  which  had  for  many  years  been  the 
topic  of  violent  discussion  at  home,  and  were  recently  abolished 
in  France.  Nowhere,  perhaps  on  earth,  were  tythes  more  un- 
popular, and  considered  by  the  people  as  a  greater  grievance, 
than  in  Ireland,  They  went  to  the  support  of  an  established  clergy 
that  preached  a  religion  that  was  adopted  by  only  one-tenth  of 
the  nation,  and  which  was  not  merely  disbelieved,  but  considered 
as  heresy,  by  three-fourths  of  those  that  were  forced  to  pay  them.' 

^Pieces  of  Irish  History,  p.  14. 

*  In  a  recent  issue  of  the  Dublin  Freeman^ s  yournal  a  statement  of  Dr. 
Bridges  is  given  in  relation  to  this  tax  :  "  Now  that  the  Irish  Protestant  Estab- 
lishment has  been  swept  away  it  is  easy  for  us  to  see  that  no  tax  more  hateful 
has  ever  been  levied  on  a  European  population  than  this  tax  on  labor,  levied 
on  struggling  farmers  and  laborers  for  the  support  of  an  alien  religion.  But 
hateful  as  it  was  everywhere,  to  Ulster  Presbyterians  as  to  Catholics,  it  was  in 
the  South  of  Ireland  that  its  full  oppressiveness  was  felt  and  resented.  In  some 
places  it  exceeded  the  rack  rent  of  the  land.  A  case  is  recorded  where  eleven 
acres  of  land,  let  for  a  guinea  per  acre,  paid  £\\  in  tithes  (about  $6.50  per 
acre).  The  details  of  one  of  the  cases  (Ryan  vs.  Greene),  cited  by  Grattan 
from  the  records  of  the  Vicar's  Court  at  Cashel,  will  serve  as  a  sample  of  the 
rest.  The  farm  consisted  of  21^  Irish  acres  and  it  was  tithed  as  follows: 
Potatoes,  4^  acres  were  estimated  to  produce  250  stone  at  6  pence,  were 
tithed  at  £1  I'ilt ;  pasture,  10  acres,  valued  at  30  tons  of  hay,  tithed  at 
£,t  ibjb.  The  total  tithe  was  thus  £i(}  8/9,  or  rather  more  than  15J.  (about 
$4.00)  per  acre.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  potatoes  had  paid  in  this  case  ^i  2/4 
in  tithes,  or  about  13J.  ^d.  per  English  acre."  This  unjust  tax  was  computed 
in  1838  as  a  land  tax  paid  by  the  landlord,  with  a  deduction  of  one  quarter 
to  cover  the  cost  of  collection.  But  for  the  people  at  large  as  a  means  of  lessen- 
ing taxation,  it  has  since  proved  but  the  shifting  of  a  burden  from  one  shoulder 
to  the  other. 


132  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

They  had  been  the  frequent  subject  of  partial  insurrection,  and 
were  always  the  fertile  source  of  general  discontent;  so  that  the 
French  reformers,  by  abolishing  them,  exceedingly  increased  the 
numbers,  and  awoke  the  energy  of  their  Irish  admirers. 

"The  example  of  France,  in  not  permitting  disqualifications  to 
result  from  any  profession  of  religious  belief,  impressed  itself 
most  powerfully  on  the  minds  of  many  Protestants.  They  felt 
not  only  the  justice,  but  the  wisdom  of  liberality,  and  became 
convinced  that  a  similar  measure,  with  an  entire  oblivion  of  all 
religious  feuds  and  jealousies,  was  necessary  to  the  peace  and 
prosperity  of  Ireland.  Some  of  them,  considered  more  maturely 
the  arguments  respecting  the  admission  of  Catholics  to  the  rights 
of  citizenship,  which  had  been  fruitlessly  urged  in  1784,  during 
the  exertions  for  amending  the  parliamentary  representations, 
and  deriving  instruction  from  the  defeat  of  that  measure  to  which 
they  were  ardent  friends,  wished  to  array  the  members  of  that 
religion  also  in  support  of  reform,  by  giving  them  an  interest  in 
its  success.  If  it  were  combined  with  Catholic  emancipation, 
and  that  its  other  Protestant  advocates  could  be  induced  to  forego 
their  sectarian  prejudices,  the  chance  in  favour  of  both  objects 
would  be  infinitely  increased  by  the  union.  Reform  would  be 
again  raised  from  the  neglect  into  which  it  had  fallen  since  its 
rejection  by  parliament,  and  would  derive  additional  consequence 
from  a  fresh  reinforcement  of  popular  support.  The  Catholics 
would  count  among  their  friends,  those  whose  hostility  had 
hitherto  appeared  to  be  the  chief  obstacle  to  their  relief;  and 
the  two  sects  being  engaged  in  pursuit  of  the  same  object,  their 
former  distrust  and  animosities  would  vanish  before  their  com- 
mon interest. 

"  The  first  step  towards  the  accomplishment  of  this  plan,  was 
naturally  taken  by  the  Dissenters  of  the  north,  whose  habits  of 
public  discussion,  ardent  love  of  liberty,  and  greater  indepen- 
dence on  government,  emboldened  them  to  begin.  They  felt 
also  that,  as  their  forefathers  had  been  so  pre-eminently  instru- 
mental in  oppressing  the  Catholics,  justice  as  well  as  policy,  re- 
quired them  to  make  the  earliest  advances  towards  conciliation 
and  union.  Before  that  time  the  violent  prejudices,  vaunted 
superiority  and  repulsive  arrogance  of  the  Protestants  in  general, 
had  placed  such  a  gulph  of  separation  between  the  followers  of 


The  Origin  of  "The  United  Irishmen  "  133 

the  two  religions,  that  the  Catholics  the  most  enlightened  and 
attached  to  liberty,  despaired  of  effecting  anything  in  conjunc- 
tion with  their  countrymen ;  and  however  reluctantly,  were  forced 
to  purchase  occasional  mitigations  of  the  penal  code  by  depen- 
dency on  the  court  and  humble  solicitations  at  the  Castle.  But 
it  is  unquestionable,  that  when  that  body  saw  itself  likely  to  be 
supported  by  a  considerable  portion  of  the  Protestants,  it  mani- 
fested a  perfect  willingness  to  make  common  cause.'' 

In  accordance  with  the  suggestions  first  made  by  Theo- 
bald Wolfe  Tone  the  people  now  began  to  form  themselves 
into  Clubs  or  Associations,  for  the  obtaining  of  greater 
facility  to  discuss  openly  among  themselves  different  public 
measures;  but  as  yet  no  secret  societies  had  been  formed. 
The  first  organization  as  United  Irishmen  was  formed  at 
Belfast,  the  second  in  Dublin  shortly  after  and  soon  they 
became  more  widespread,  especially  at  the  north.  In  their 
declaration  they  stated,  as  their  "heavy  grievance,"  that 
they  had  "  no  national  government  but  were  ruled  by  Eng- 
lishmen and  the  servants  of  Englishmen";  and,  as  its 
"effectual  remedy,"  they  pledged  themselves  to  endeavor 
by  all  due  means  "to  procure  a  complete  and  radical  re- 
form of  the  representation  of  the  people  in  parliament,  in- 
cluding Irishmen  of  every  religious  persuasion." 

The  first  clause  in  the  Constitution  of  the  United  Irish- 
men, formed  at  Belfast  in  1791,  was: 

"ist.  This  society  is  constituted  for  the  purpose  of  forwarding 
a  brotherhood  of  affection,  a  communion  of  rights,  and  an  union 
of  power  among  Irishmen  of  every  religious  persuasion,  and 
thereby  to  obtain  a  complete  reform  in  the  legislature,  founded 
on  the  principle  of  civil,  political  and  religious  liberty." 

Mr.  Emmet  continues  ' : 

"Such  were  the  measures  adopted  by  a  few  men,  of  inconsider- 
able rank  and  of  no  particular  importance  in  society,  to  subvert 
the  exclusive  principles,  both  constitutional  and  religious,  which 

'  Pieces  of  Irish  History,  p.  19. 


134  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

had  for  ages  characterized  the  Irish  Government;  and,  when  the 
difficulties  they  encountered  are  considered,  it  is  almost  astonish- 
ing that  the  success  of  their  exertions  should  ever  have  entitled 
them  to  the  historian's  notice.  In  the  first  place  they  had  to 
surmount  the  prejudices  and  suspicions  of  different  sects,  which 
length  of  time  and  tradition  had  almost  interwoven  with  their 
respective  creeds.  This  they  hoped  to  accomplish,  and  they  suc- 
ceeded to  a  great  degree,  by  bringing  Catholics  and  Protestants 
together  with  societies  and  familiar  intercourse,  that  mutual 
knowledge  might  remove  mutual  distrust ;  but  the  hatred  of  the 
lowest  orders  of  Catholics  and  Dissenters,  was,  in  many  places 
still  violent  and  inveterate;  so  that  notwithstanding  the  utmost 
efforts  of  the  United  Irishmen,  it  was  some  time  subsequently 
fanned  into  active  hostilities." 


CHAPTER   VIII 

"PROTESTANT  ASCENDANCY"  AND  PENAL  LAWS — WHAT 
THE  CATHOLICS  SUFFERED — CONTINUED  EFFORTS  BY 
THE  PRESBYTERIANS  AND  A  PORTION  OF  THE  PRO- 
TESTANTS TO  HAVE  THESE  LAWS  ABOLISHED — COURSE 
OF  THE  GOVERNMENT,  WHICH  SECRETLY  EXCITED 
BIGOTRY  AND  STRIFE  AMONG  THE  PEOPLE  —  A  FAR- 
REACHING  AND  BLIGHTING  POLICY — PITT'S  METHODS 
FOR  FORCING  THE   SO-CALLED  REBELLION  OF  1 798 

Already  the  agents  of  both  the  English  and  Irish  Gov- 
ernments were  at  work  secretly  exciting  the  religious  preju- 
dices of  the  lower  classes  against  each  other  and  were  thus 
endeavoring  by  every  means  possible  to  weaken  the  growing 
influence  of  the  United  Irishmen.  Yet  in  public  their 
agents  seemed  to  be  acting  in  good  faith  in  favor  of  the 
public  movements  and  this  deception  was  continued,  since 
the  time  had  not  yet  arrived  when  the  Government  could 
give  the  crushing  blow.  The  fact  that  the  Government  did 
not  in  reality  favor  either  Parliamentary  reform  or  the  re- 
moval of  the  Penal  laws  for  the  Catholics  is  made  evident 
by  the  activity  of  those  who  were  always  friendly  to  the 
policy  of  the  English  Government.  This  is  shown  by  Mr. 
Emmet's  statement  ' : 

"  On  the  other  hand,  the  friends  of  what  has  since  been  called 
the  Protestant  Ascendency  had  taken  considerable  alarm,  and 
declared  themselves  against  the  Catholic  claims  and  measures 
with  the  utmost  violence  and  passion.  As  they  were  almost 
entirely  members  of  the  Established  Church,    in  possession  or 

'  Pieces  of  Irish  History,  p,  24. 
135 


13^  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

expectation  of  all  the  exclusive  benefits  derived  from  their  re- 
ligion, and  in  general  the  uniform  supporters  of  administration, 
they  were  either  actually  members  of  Parliament,  or  at  least  more 
peculiarly  connected  with  that  body.  This,  therefore,  will  ac- 
count for  the  proceedings  of  the  session  which  commenced  on  the 
19th  of  January,  1792. 

"  On  the  first  night  of  its  meeting,  Sir  Hercules  Langrishe  (a 
confidential  servant  of  Government,  but  an  early  and  decided 
enemy  of  the  popery  laws)  gave  notice  in  the  House  of  Commons 
of  his  intention  to  introduce  a  bill  for  the  relief  of  the  Catholics; 
which  was  accordingly  brought  in  on  the  4th  of  February.  It 
opened  to  them  the  bar,  up  to  the  rank  of  king's  counsel;  per- 
mitted their  intermarriage  with  Protestants,  provided  it  were 
celebrated  by  a  Protestant  clergyman;  but  continued  the  dis- 
franchisement of  a  Protestant  husband,  marrying  a  popish  wife ; 
and  subjected  a  Catholic  clergyman,  celebrating  such  intermar- 
riage, to  the  penalty  of  death ;  at  the  same  time  declaring  the 
marriage  itself  null  and  void.  It  further  gave  the  Catholics  the 
privilege  of  teaching  school  without  license  from  the  ordinary 
and  permitted  them  to  take  two  or  more  apprentices. ' ' 

As  Americans,  living  in  a  country  where  absolute  freedom 
of  conscience  exists  for  all,  it  would  be  difficult  to  realize 
that  the  slightest  objection  could  have  been  made  to  the 
granting  of  these  so-called  concessions.  And  it  is  still  more 
difficult  to  understand  how  such  laws  as  constituted  the 
Penal  Code  of  Ireland  could  have  been  enforced  consistently 
with  Christian  charity  or  approved  by  any  civilized  people 
to  within  seventy  years  of  the  present  time. 

It  is  doubtful  if  any  other  people,  not  excepting  the 
Catholic  Poles  of  Russia,  were  ever  placed  under  so  grievous 
a  burden  as  these  iniquitous  Penal  laws  proved  for  the 
Catholics  of  Ireland  and  the  infliction  of  the  laws  themselves 
was  to  the  Catholic  conscience  and  self-respect  as  brutal  as 
the  severest  torture  English  ingenuity  ever  devised  for  the 
bodily  suffering  and  death  of  the  Irish  people. 

Burke,'  in  a  letter  written  in  1792  to  Sir  H.  Langrishe  on 

'  The  Works  0/ Edmund  Burke,  New  York,  1854,  vol.  ii.,  pp.  64-84. 


The  Penal  Laws  against  Catholics       137 

the  status  of  the  Catholics  of  Ireland,  gives  an  account  of 
the  Penal  laws,  a  production  which  is  probably  the  clearest 
exposition  of  the  subject  ever  written.     In  his  opinion: 

"  Their  declared  object  was  to  reduce  the  Catholics  of  Ireland 
to  a  miserable  populace,  without  property,  without  estimation, 
without  education.  The  professed  object  was  to  deprive  the 
few  men  who,  in  spite  of  those  laws,  might  hold  or  retain  any 
property  among  them,  of  all  sort  of  influence  or  authority  over 
the  rest.  They  divided  the  nation  into  two  distinct  bodies,  with- 
out common  interests,  sympathy,  or  connection.  One  of  these 
bodies  was  to  possess  all  the  franchises,  all  the  property,  all  the 
education ;  the  other  was  to  be  composed  of  drawers  of  water  and 
cutters  of  turf  for  them. 

"All  the  penal  laws  of  that  unparalleled  code  of  oppression 
which  were  made  after  the  last  event,  were  manifestly  the  effect 
of  national  hatred  and  scorn  towards  a  conquered  people." 

Burke  also  stated  that  the  system  was : 

"  The  worst  species  of  tyranny  that  the  insolence  and  perverse- 
ness  of  mankind  ever  dared  exercise.  .  .  .  You  abhorred  it, 
as  I  did,  for  its  vicious  perfection.  For  I  must  do  it  justice:  it 
was  a  complete  system  full  of  coherence  and  consistency;  well 
digested  and  well  composed  in  all  its  parts.  It  was  a  machine  of 
wise  and  elaborate  contrivance;  and  as  well  fitted  for  the  op- 
pression, impoverishment,  and  degradation  of  a  people,  and  the 
debasement,  in  them,  of  human  nature  itself,  as  ever  proceeded 
from  the  perverted  ingenuity  of  man." 

By  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  the  Catholic 
population  of  Ireland  had  increased  faster  in  proportion 
than  the  Protestant  portion  had  done.  In  many  districts, 
to  the  north  and  in  the  middle  portion  of  Ireland,  as  they 
gradually  filled  the  vacancies  created  by  the  beginning  of 
Protestant  emigration,  the  Catholics  under  more  favorable 
circumstances  gained  rapidly  in  numbers  and  prosperity.  In 
consequence  of  increased  business  relations,  they  began 
to  exercise  greater  influence  in  every  community  and  this 


138  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

gradually  led  to  a  more  passive  tolerance  evinced  towards 
them,  so  that  many  of  the  more  grievous  laws  of  the  Penal 
Code  became  inactive  from  not  being  enforced  by  the  local 
authorities. 

But  it  was  not  until  1774,  when  the  British  Government 
was  beginning  to  get  into  difficulty  with  the  American  Colo- 
nies, that  any  legal  amelioration  was  made.  At  that  time 
an  Act  was  passed  by  Parliament  permitting  the  Irish  Catho- 
lic to  take  a  prescribed  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  king  which 
could  be  done  without  committing  perjury.  Previous  to 
that  time  the  Catholic  was  cut  off  by  law  from  almost  every 
pursuit  in  life.  By  being  able  to  take  an  oath  of  allegiance 
the  Catholic  gained  some  legal  standing  in  his  community. 
In  1778,  while  England  was  engaged  in  the  American  war, 
which  had  already  become  a  serious  tax  on  her  resources, 
she  was  forced  to  grant  greater  concessions  by  the  repeal  of 
the  barbarous  additions  made  to  the  Penal  Code  by  William 
III.  England  had  also  to  make  concessions  to  Scotland,  in 
addition  to  those  granted  the  Irish  Catholics,  with  the  effect 
of  arousing  the  bigotry  of  the  English  people  which  in  1778 
culminated  in  the  Lord  George  Gordon  riots  of  London. 

In  consequence  of  the  united  action  of  the  Irish  people 
public  worship,  even  to  the  existence  of  a  Catholic  church, 
was  legalized.  And  we  shall  see,  it  was  promised  that  all 
legal  disabilities  would  be  removed  from  the  Catholics  with 
full  freedom  of  worship.  As  usual,  pledged  faith  was  vio- 
lated and  no  further  efforts  were  made  by  the  English  Gov- 
ernment to  emancipate  the  Catholics  until  it  was  forced  to 
do  so  many  years  later. 

The  Catholic  Association  of  Ireland  had  been  gradually 
gaining  strength  through  increased  numbers  and  influence. 
Wellington,  as  Prime  Minister,  for  a  time  bitterly  opposed 
granting  religious  liberty  to  the  Catholics  but  at  length  he 
became  convinced  that  the  security  of  the  Empire  would  be 
endangered  by  further  resistance.  He  then,  representing  the 
Government,  advocated  the  introduction  of  a  Relief  Bill  into 
Parliament  which  was  passed  through  the  House  of  Lords 


Synopsis  of  the  Penal  Laws  139 

and  Commons  with  the  greatest  expedition  and  in  1829  the 
Catholic  subjects  of  Great  Britain  became  by  law  freemen. 

We  have  seen  Edmund  Burke's  view  of  the  Penal  Code, 
as  shown  by  a  few  brief  extracts  relating  to  the  whole  sys- 
tem. But  the  following  synopsis,  recently  published  in  the 
Dublin  Frcejnans  Journal,  Ireland,  treats  of  the  subject 
more  in  detail  and  it  will  indicate  to  the  reader,  in  a  general 
way,  what  formed  the  "Popery  Laws  "  in  a  modified  form 
at  the  time  of  the  passage  of  the  Catholic  Emancipation  Act 
in  1829. 

The  provisions  of  the  Penal  Code  were  at  that  time  as 
follows : 

"They  excluded  Catholics  from  Parliament,  from  the  magis- 
tracy, from  the  corporations,  from  the  University,  from  the  bar, 
from  the  right  of  voting  at  Parliament  elections  or  vestries,  of 
acting  as  constables,  as  sheriffs  or  as  jurymen,  of  serving  as 
ofificers  in  the  army  or  navy,  of  becoming  solicitors,  or  even 
holding  the  position  of  game-keeper  or  watchman. 

"  They  prohibited  them  from  becoming  schoolmasters,  ushers 
or  private  tutors,  or  from  sending  their  children  abroad  to  re- 
ceive the  Catholic  education  they  were  refused  at  home.'  They 
offered  an  annuity  to  every  priest  who  would  forsake  his  creed, 
pronounced  a  sentence  of  exile  against  the  whole  hierarchy,  and 
restricted  the  right  of  celebrating  the  mass  to  registered  priests 
whose  number  according  to  the  first  intention  of  the  Legislature 
was  not  to  be  renewed.*     The  Catholic  could  not  buy  land  or 

'  During  the  seventeenth  century  all  Catholic  education  was  forbidden,  the 
object  being  to  keep  four-fifths  of  the  Irish  people  in  absolute  ignorance,  and 
Catholic  schoolmasters  in  common  with  the  priest  were  hunted  and  put  to 
death  as  wild  beasts.     See  Appendix,  note  g. 

^  The  Irish  House  of  Commons  in  1719  passed  a  bill  unanimously  directing 
that  every  unregistered  priest  and  friar  found  in  Ireland  after  May  i,  1720, 
should  have  the  letter  P  branded  by  a  hot  iron  on  the  cheek.  The  Irish 
Privy  Council  changed  the  penalty  to  castration  and  the  change  was  approved. 
But  the  bill  was  finally  rendered  void  in  consequence  of  a  connecting  clause 
relating  to  the  grant  of  certain  forms  of  lease  to  Catholics  which  the  Irish  House 
of  Lords  rejected;  but  no  other  objection  was  raised  to  the  bill  as  a  whole. 
The  English  were  more  merciful  to  their  people,  since  a  priest  found  in  Eng- 
land was  consigned  to  the  gallows. 


I40  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

inherit  or  receive  it  as  a  gift  from  Protestants,  or  hold  life  annui- 
ties or  lease  for  more  than  thirty-one  years,  or  any  lease  on  such 
terms  that  the  profits  of  the  land  exceeded  one-third  of  the  rent. 
A  Catholic  except  in  the  linen  trade,  could  have  no  more  than 
two  apprentices.  He  could  not  have  a  horse  of  the  value  of  more 
than  five  pounds,  and  any  Protestant  on  giving  him  Five  Pounds 
might  take  his  horse.  He  was  compelled  to  pay  double  in  the 
militia.  In  case  of  war  with  a  Catholic  power,  he  was  obliged  to 
reimburse  the  damage  done  by  the  enemy's  privateers.  To  con- 
vert a  Protestant  to  Catholicism  was  a  capital  offence.  No 
Catholic  might  marry  a  Protestant.  Into  his  own  family  circle 
the  elements  of  dissension  were  ingeniously  introduced.  A 
Catholic  land  owner  might  not  bequeath  his  land.  It  was  divided 
among  his  children,  unless  the  eldest  son  became  a  Protestant,  in 
which  case  the  parent  became  simply  a  life  tenant  and  lost  all 
power  either  of  selling  or  mortgaging  it.  If  a  Catholic's  wife 
abandoned  her  husband's  religion,  she  was  immediately  free  from 
his  control,  and  the  Chancellor  would  assign  her  a  certain  portion 
of  the  husband's  property.  If  his  child,  however  young,  pro- 
fessed itself  a  Protestant,  it  was  taken  from  the  father's  care,  and 
the  Chancellor  could  assign  it  a  portion  of  its  father's  property. 
No  Catholic  could  be  guardian  either  to  his  own  children  or 
those  of  another. ' ' 

We  have  here  given  in  brief  the  Code,  after  it  had  been 
modified  somewhat,  in  response  to  the  demands  of  those  in 
Ireland  of  a  different  faith  that  some  justice  should  be  ex- 
tended to  the  Catholics.  But  the  list  is  not  complete,  for 
no  Catholic  could  lend  money  on  landed  security ;  nor  does  it 
make  mention  of  the  special  taxes  and  the  tithes  which  they 
had  to  pay  in  common  with  the  Dissenters  or  Presbyterians. 

The  law  was  that  no  Catholic  could  enter  the  army  or 
navy  without  taking  the  oath  of  supremacy ;  but  this  law 
was  afterwards  ignored  for  the  purpose  of  filling  the  ranks 
of  both  services  with  recruits  by  enlisting  or  by  means  of 
the  Press  Gang. 

The  following  is  a  criticism  on  the  Penal  Code  of  Ireland 
from  Lecky's  work  ' : 

'  Vol.  i.,  pp.  169-170. 


Intended  Effect  of  Penal  Laws  141 

**  It  may  be  possible  to  find  in  the  statute  books  both  of  Pro- 
testant and  Catholic  countries  laws  corresponding  to  most  parts 
of  the  Irish  penal  code,  and  in  some  respects  surpassing  its  most 
atrocious  provisions,  but  it  is  not  less  true  that  the  code,  taken 
as  a  whole,  has  a  character  entirely  distinctive.  It  was  directed 
not  against  the  few,  but  against  the  many.  It  was  not  the  per- 
secution of  a  sect,  but  the  degradation  of  a  nation.  It  was  the 
instrument  employed  by  a  conquered  race,  supported  by  a  neigh- 
boring Power,  to  crush  to  the  dust  the  people  among  whom  they 
were  planted.  And,  indeed,  when  we  remember  that  the  greater 
part  of  it  was  in  force  for  nearly  a  century,  that  its  victims  formed 
at  least  three-fourths  of  the  nation,  that  its  degrading  and  divid- 
ing influence  extended  to  every  field  of  social,  political,  profes- 
sional, intellectual  and  even  domestic  life,  and  that  it  was  enacted 
without  the  provocation  of  any  rebellion,  in  defiance  of  a  treaty 
which  distinctly  guaranteed  the  Irish  Catholics  from  any  further 
oppression  on  account  of  their  religion,  it  may  be  justly  regarded 
as  one  of  the  blackest  pages  in  the  history  of  persecution." 

"The  Irish,"  said  Dr.  Johnson,'  "are  in  a  most  unnatural 
state,  for  we  there  see  the  minority  prevailing  over  the  majority. 
There  is  no  instance  even  in  the  Ten  Persecutions  of  such 
severity  as  that  which  the  Protestants  of  Ireland  have  exercised 
against  the  Catholics." 

The  Catholics  were  anxious  to  accept  any  amelioration  in 
their  condition,  while  their  Presbyterian  friends  in  the  north 
were  active  in  obtaining  signatures  to  a  petition  in  which  it 
was  urged  in  strong  terms  that  a  complete  repeal  should  be 
passed  which  should  free  the  Catholics  from  all  existing 
penal  and  restrictive  laws.  This  petition,  to  which  the 
names  of  over  six  hundred  Presbyterian  business  men  in 
Belfast  were  attached,  together  with  all  others  presented  with 
the  same  purpose,  was  rejected  by  so  large  a  majority  of 
the  Irish  House  of  Commons  that  the  effect  was  to  force  the 
Dissenters  and  Catholics  into  even  closer  relations. 

When  Sir  Hercules  Langrishe's  bill  was  under  discussion 
it  met  with  great  opposition;  Mr.  Emmet  states': 

'  Boswell's  Life  of  Johnson,  p.  xxix.     See  also  Hallam's  History  of  England. 
"^Pieces  of  Irish  History,  p.  27. 


142  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

"In  the  debate  on  this  motion,  Mr.  Grattan  reprobated  the 
bigotry  of  the  Protestant  Ascendency,  and  predicted  the  final 
success  of  the  Catholics,  by  one  of  those  sublime  comparisons 
that  peculiarly  characterized  his  eloquence: — 'What,  never  be 
free,'  exclaimed  this  overwhelming  orator.  '  Three  millions  of 
your  people  condemned  by  their  fellow  subjects  to  an  everlasting 
slavery,  in  all  changes  of  time,  decay  of  prejudice,  increase  of 
knowledge.  The  fall  of  the  papal  power,  and  the  establishment 
of  philosophic  and  moral  ascendency  in  its  place!  Never  be 
free!  Do  you  mean  to  tell  the  Roman  Catholic,  it  is  in  vain  that 
you  take  oaths  and  declarations  of  allegiance ;  it  would  be  in  vain 
even  to  renounce  the  spiritual  power  of  the  Pope,  and  become 
like  any  other  Dissenter,  it  would  make  no  difference  as  to  your 
emancipation;  go  to  France;  go  to  America;  carry  your  property 
and  industry,  manufacturers,  and  family,  to  a  land  of  liberty. 
This  is  a  sentence  which  requires  the  power  of  a  God  and  the 
malignity  of  a  demon ;  you  are  not  competent  to  pronounce  it. 
Believe  me,  you  may  as  well  plant  your  foot  on  the  earth,  and 
hope  by  that  resistance  to  stop  the  diurnal  revolution,  which 
advances  you  to  that  morning  sun  which  is  to  shine  alike  on  the 
Protestant  and  Catholic,  as  you  can  hope  to  arrest  the  progress 
of  that  other  light,  reason  and  justice,  which  approach  to  liberate 
the  Catholic  and  liberalize  the  Protestant.  Even  now  the  ques- 
tion is  on  its  way,  and  making  its  destined  and  irresistible  pro- 
gress, which  you,  with  all  your  authority,  will  have  no  power  to 
resist;  no  more  than  any  other  great  truth,  or  any  other  ordinance 
of  nature,  or  any  law  of  motion,  which  mankind  is  free  to  con- 
template, but  cannot  resist;  there  is  a  justice  linked  to  their 
cause,  and  a  truth  that  sets  off  their  application.'  " 

Henry  Grattan  was  a  Protestant,  a  member  of  the  Estab- 
lished Church,  and  until  his  death  in  1820  he  was  persistent 
in  his  efforts  to  secure  religious  freedom  for  the  Catholics 
of  Ireland.  Although  he  died  before  the  Act  of  Emanci- 
pation finally  passed,  it  must  be  claimed  for  him  that  no 
other  individual  contributed  so  much  to  bring  about  this 
consummation. 

To  the  surprise  of  every  one  this  bill  passed  and  became 
a  law  by  the  same  overwhelming  majority  which  seemed  at 


Amelioration  of  the  Status  of  Catholics    143 

the  beginning  to  have  been  opposed  to  it.  But  time  has 
disclosed  the  fact  that  the  hand  of  Pitt,  the  then  head  of 
the  British  Ministry,  manipulated  the  puppets  in  the  Irish 
House  of  Commons  to  accomplish  his  purpose.  The  same 
influence  was  secretly  exerted  abroad  for  encouraging  the 
Presbyterians  and  the  Catholics  to  demand  of  the  Government 
full  religious  freedom.  At  the  same  time  those  who  favored 
"Protestant  Ascendancy  "  were  being  urged  by  secret  agents 
to  offer  every  obstacle  from  increased  religious  prejudice 
and  were  encouraged  to  go  to  greater  lengths  in  resistance 
with  the  certainty  of  having  both  the  protection  and  sym- 
pathy of  the  Government. 

A  remarkable  change  had  taken  place  throughout  Ireland 
by  the  year  1790  and  on  the  surface  there  still  seemed  a 
most  promising  outlook.  Newenham,  who  was  an  observer 
of  passing  events,  has  stated  that' : 

"  The  aspect  of  the  political  condition  of  Ireland  gradually 
underwent  a  most  desirable  change.  Cordiality  between  Pro- 
testants and  Roman  Catholics  was  now  at  its  height.  The 
partiality  and  insolence  of  the  subordinate  agents  of  the  executive 
government,  which  the  Roman  Catholics  had  frequently  reason 
to  complain  of,  was  everywhere  industriously  discountenanced 
and  restrained.  The  laws  became  respected  by  all  alike.  The 
Roman  Catholics,  to  whom  they  had  long  proved  a  source  of 
terror,  rather  than  relief,  flew  to  them  for  protection,  equally 
with  the  Protestants;  and  on  various  occasions  evinced  the  utmost 
alacrity  in  carrying  them  into  effect.  The  Roman  Catholic  clergy, 
treated  with  liberality,  kindness,  attention  and  respect,  began  to 
assist  at  those  meetings  where  their  presence  was  becoming.  Irish 
gentlemen,  of  the  Roman  Catholic  religion  who  had  served  in  the 
armies  of  foreign  princes,  or  resided,  without  occupation,  abroad, 
now  returned  to  their  native  country;  and  by  the  politeness  of 
their  manners,  liberality  of  their  sentiments,  and  respectability 
of  their  characters,  attracted  in  an  eminent  manner  the  esteem  of 
their  Protestant  associates.  Everything  tending  to  revive  the  re- 
collection of  former  animosity  was  scrupulously  avoided.     The 

'  P.  250. 


144  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

attractive  and  amiable  qualities  of  the  Irish  character  suffered 
obscuration  no  longer.  Ireland  seemed  to  rise  from  a  long 
trance,  to  the  enjoyment  of  the  utmost  internal  peace  and  felicity. 
But,  alas!  the  season  of  tranquillity,  union  and  strength  was  of 
short  duration." 

The  treacherous  purpose  of  the  Government  was  hidden 
as  yet  but  the  spirit  of  discord  was  abroad  through  its  in- 
fluence. The  feelings  of  every  individual  in  the  community 
were  being  gradually  involved  in  the  great  cyclone  of  evil 
passions  which  was  about  to  burst  forth  over  the  whole 
country  in  a  civil  war  to  be  attended  with  an  incalculable 
amount  of  sorrow  and  suffering  from  every  crime  known  to 
men — and  one  man,  Pitt,  the  English  Minister,  was  its  in- 
stigator. 

With  the  prospect  of  gaining  general  reform  in  Parliament 
and  emancipation  for  the  Catholics,  a  general  state  of  en- 
thusiasm sprang  up  throughout  Ireland.  While  it  was  gen- 
erally believed  that  the  Irish  Government  was  not  to  be 
depended  upon,  the  impression  was  widespread  that  Pitt 
was  sympathetic,  that  through  his  influence  Parliament 
would  eventually  be  directed  to  take  favorable  action.  A 
Catholic  Convention  was  held  and  a  general  petition  was 
circulated  for  signatures,  to  be  signed  by  persons  of  all  de- 
nominations and  the  one  in  Belfast  was  signed  by  almost 
two-thirds  of  the  adult  male  Protestant  population  of  that 
town.  This  petition,  asking  for  the  granting  of  religious 
freedom  to  the  Catholics,  was  entrusted  to  a  committee  and 
on  January  2,  1792,  it  was  presented  at  St.  James's  Palace, 
London,  to  the  King  who  formally  received  it ;  subsequently 
it  was  also  endorsed  by  the  Ministry.     Mr.  Emmet  states  ' : 

"  The  Lord  Lieutenant  in  his  speech  from  the  throne  on  the 
loth,  communicated  a  particular  recommendation  from  his  maj- 
esty to  take  into  serious  consideration  the  situation  of  his  Cath- 
olic subjects  and  relying  on  the  wisdom  and  liberality  of  his 
parliament.  This  recommendation  seemed  to  work  a  rapid 
'  Pieces  of  Irish  History,  etc.,  p.  42. 


England  Secretly  Incites  Intolerance    145 

change  of  sentiment  in  many  of  those  who  had  before  brought 
forward  the  counties  and  grand  juries  to  pledge  their  lives  and 
fortunes  against  any  further  restoration  of  rights  to  their  fellow 
subjects.  In  general  it  was  received  with  a  chastened  and  meek 
submission." 

A  bill  was  introduced  into  the  Irish  Parliament  for  the  re- 
lief of  the  Catholics  and  Mr.  Grattan  shortly  offered  another 
for  the  purpose  of  reforming  the  whole  system  of  selecting 
members  for  Parliament,  together  with  other  measures  for 
the  general  good.  But  there  was  evidently  a  secret  influ- 
ence exerted  which  retarded  the  progress  of  every  proposed 
reform.  The  country  was  rapidly  getting  into  an  unaccount- 
ably restless  state,  particularly  at  the  north,  where  Prot- 
estants and  the  lower  classes  of  Catholics  were  frequently 
involved  in  conflict  through  religious  prejudice  suddenly 
excited  into  active  operation  by  some  hidden  influence. 

As  the  Catholics  were  generally  on  the  defensive,  they  be- 
gan to  organize  and  called  themselves  "Defenders,"  Fre- 
quent searches  were  being  made  by  the  Government  and  its 
friends  all  over  the  country  under  the  pretext  of  searching 
for  arms.  The  Volunteers  and  other  military  organizations 
were  prevented  from  meeting  and  large  bodies  of  English 
and  Hessian  troops  began  to  make  their  appearance  in  the 
country.  Mr.  Emmet  has  given  us  an  explanation  of  the 
cause  of  disturbance  at  the  north  * : 

"  Disturbances  had  broken  out,  and  outrages  were  committed 
in  the  country  of  Louth,  and  the  neighbouring  counties  of  Meath, 
Cavan  and  Monaghan,  by  persons  of  the  lower  rank  in  life,  asso- 
ciated under  the  name  of  Defenders.  This  body  had  its  origin 
in  religious  persecution  and  was  an  almost  inevitable  consequence 
of  the  system,  according  to  which  Ulster  had  been  colonized  and 
settled,  and  Ireland  ruled  since  the  reformation.  In  that  pro- 
vince English  and  Scotch  Planters  had  been  established  on  the 
forfeited  lands  of  the  native  Catholics.  These  last  were  for  the 
most  part  obliged  to  retire  to  the  bogs  and  mountains;  but  even 

'  Pieces  of  Irish  History,  etc. ,  p.  54. 


146  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

they  were  not  permitted  to  lose  the  remembrance  of  their  fore- 
fathers, their  power  and  opulence,  in  the  tranquil  enjoyment  of 
security  and  content.  The  bogs  and  mountains  afforded  them 
no  refuge  against  the  acts  of  uniformity  and  supremacy  or  the 
accumulating  oppression  of  the  popery  laws.  Now  were  the 
wretched  inhabitants  exempt  by  their  defenceless  condition  from 
the  hatred,  contempt  and  persecution  of  their  privileged  and  ar- 
rogant neighbours.  Hence  arose  a  mutual  rancorous  animosity 
between  the  new  settlers  and  natives,  or  in  other  words,  between 
the  Protestants  and  Catholics,  transmitted  from  generation  to  gen- 
eration, until  at  last  it  became  more  violent  and  intolerant  than 
in  any  other  part  of  Ireland." 

Mr,  Emmet  does  not  specify  nor  point  out  the  fact  but 
the  reader  must  bear  in.  mind  that  the  difficulty  was  not  so 
much  betw^een  the  Presbyterians  and  Catholics  as  from  a 
small  portion  of  the  Protestants  who,  under  the  plea  of 
"Protestant  Ascendancy,"  had  found  it  profitable  to  sacri- 
fice the  peace  and  prosperity  of  Ireland  during  the  previous 
hundred  years  and  were  soon  to  band  together  in  a  more 
formidable  organization  as  Orangemen. 

Notwithstanding  the  ominous  outlook  for  the  country  the 
people  at  large  had  not  yet  suspected  the  true  condition  of 
affairs  and  were  still  busily  engaged  in  contemplating  the 
apparently  favorable  prospects  for  obtaining  different  re- 
forms. The  English  Government  and  its  agents  were  to  all 
appearances  taking  no  active  part ;  yet  the  situation  was  like 
that  of  some  wild  beast  drawing  together  its  limbs  in  prepa- 
ration suddenly  to  spring  upon  its  prey  ;  it  was  preparing  to 
crush  a  helpless  people  for  the  purpose  of  gaining  a  long 
contemplated  advantage,  of  perpetrating  a  political  crime 
which  was  diabolical  both  in  conception  and  execution. 

The  United  Irishmen  were  the  only  portion  of  the  people 
who  were  beginning  to  mistrust  the  Government  and  had  in 
consequence  begun  to  form  their  secret  societies  in  prepara- 
tion for  the  outbreak  which  it  was  obvious  to  many  must 
come,  since  Rowen,  Jackson  and  other  leaders  had  been 
arrested  under  different  charges.     But  they  were  oblivious 


Lord  Fitzwilliam  Sent  to  Ireland        147 

to  the  fact  that  England  had  already  permeated  their  own 
organization  with  her  spies  and  informers  who  were  soon  to 
furnish  against  them  any  testimony  needed  to  serve  the  pur- 
poses of  the  Government. 

In  January,  1795,  Lord  Fitzwilliam  was  sent  over  to  Ire- 
land fully  authorized  to  advocate  in  the  name  of  the  British 
Government  every  needed  reform.  We  learn  from  Mr. 
Emmet's  work ' : 

* '  When  Mr.  Pitt  thought  it  advisable  to  dismember  the  English 
opposition,  by  detaching  from  it  those  whose  opinions  on  the 
subject  of  the  French  war  most  nearly  coincided  with  his  own, 
the  Duke  of  Portland  was  prevailed  upon  to  enter  the  cabinet, 
by  such  offers,  as  can  be  best  inferred  from  Lord  Fitzwilliam's 
letters  to  Lord  Carlisle,  which  were  published  by  the  authority 
of  the  writer.  These  offers  are  sufficiently  expressed  in  the  fol- 
lowing passages: — When  the  Duke  of  Portland  and  his  friends 
were  to  be  enticedmio  a  coalition  with  Mr.  Pitt's  administration, 
it  was  necessary  to  hold  out  such  lures  as  would  make  the  coali- 
tion palatable.  If  the  general  management  and  superintendence 
of  Ireland  had  not  been  offered  to  his  grace,  that  coalition  would 
never  have  taken  place.  The  superintendence  of  that  country 
having  been  vested  in  the  Duke,  he  seems  to  have  been  seriously 
intent  on  remedying  some  of  the  vices  in  its  Government.  The 
system  of  that  Government,  he  said,  was  execrable;  so  execrable 
as  to  threaten  not  only  Ireland  with  the  greatest  misfortune,  but 
ultimately  the  empire.  So  strong  was  this  opinion  on  his  mind, 
that  he  seemed  determined  on  going  himself  to  reform  those  mani- 
fold abuses;  if  he  could  not  find  some  one  in  whom  he  might 
have  the  most  unbounded  confidence,  to  undertake  the  arduous 
task.  Such  a  person  he  found  in  Lord  Fitzwilliam,  his  second 
self — his  nearest  and  dearest  friend.  That  nobleman  was  far 
from  desirous  of  undertaking  the  herculean  office;  but  he  was 
urgently  pressed  and  persuaded  by  the  Duke  of  Portland. 

"  They  both  had  connections  and  political  friends  in  Ireland, 
members  of  the  opposition,  whom  they  wished  to  consult  on  the 
future  arrangements,  and  whose  support  Lord  Fitzwilliam  con- 
ceived of  indispensable  importance." 

'  Pieces  of  Irish  History,  etc.,  p.  92. 


148  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

Mr.  Grattan  and  their  other  friends  had  frequent  consulta- 
tions and  finally  it  was  agreed  that ' : 

"They  were  very  ready  to  join  the  Duke  of  Portland  in  rallying 
under  the  standard  of  Mr.  Pitt,  provided  certain  domestic  stipu- 
lations were  acceded  to,  from  which  they  hoped  to  secure  some 
share  of  public  confidence.  Among  these  were  unqualified 
Catholic  emancipation,  the  dismissal  of  what  was  called  the 
*  Beresford  Faction,'  with  adequate  regulations  for  preventing 
embezzlement,  and  for  securing  order  and  economy  in  the  col- 
lection and  administration  of  the  treasury  and  revenue.  Mr. 
Burke  also  suggested  a  further  measure  of  liberality,  flowing  to 
the  Catholics  from  itself.  They,  he  asserted,  were  far  from  being 
conciliated  even  by  the  partial  repeal  of  the  popery  laws  in  1793; 
inasmuch  as  administration,  while  it  acceded  to  the  law,  showed 
dislike  to  its  relief  by  avoiding  as  much  as  possible  to  act  under 
its  provisions:  although  it  rendered  them  admissible  to  certain 
offices,  no  appointments  had  been  made,  which  realized  to  any 
individual  the  benefits  it  promised." 

Marcus  Beresford,  the  leader  of  the  faction  above  referred 
to,  belonged  to  a  family  w^hich  for  generations  had  lived  on 
the  country  through  its  influence  with  the  British  Govern- 
ment under  all  administrations.  Uncompromising  advo- 
cates of  Protestant  Ascendancy  and  active  Orangemen, 
they  were  ever  ready  to  do  any  disreputable  service  for  the 
Government.  The  Beresfords  and  their  connections  at  one 
time  monopolized  one-fourth  of  the  Government  ofifices  in 
Ireland  and,  it  was  commonly  held,  had  been  able  to  take 
more  from  Ireland  and  to  give  less  than  any  other  family 
in  the  country.  In  less  than  three  hundred  years  they  have 
acquired  over  one  hundred  and  sixty  thousand  acres  of 
land  in  Ireland  alone.'     Plowden  states  ': 

'  Pieces  of  Irish  History,  etc.,  p.  94- 

2  See  Our  Old  Nobility,  by  Howard  Evans,  published  by  Vickers,  London, 
for  many  points  of  interest  relating  to  those  who  have  likewise  prospered  at 
the  expense  of  their  country. 

'Vol.  iv.,  p.  158. 


The  Beresford  "  Leeches  "  in  Ireland    149 

"  No  sooner  had  the  original  plan  of  Irish  reform  been  pro- 
jected and  agreed  upon  by  the  Portland  part  of  the  British  Cabi- 
net, than  Mr.  Beresford,  who  well  knew  that  his  power  would  be 
put  down,  applied  to  a  higher  power  in  order  to  support  himself 
against  the  attack  whenever  it  should  be  made.  In  the  preceding 
autumn  he  had  flown  to  England  on  the  first  rumour  of  Lord 
Fitzwilliam's  appointment,  and  had  followed  his  Majesty  to  Wey- 
mouth, where  he  had  been  honoured  with  a  private  audience,  in 
which  he  is  reported  to  have  represented  in  the  most  lively 
colours  his  uniform  attachment  to  every  administration  during  a 
period  of  twenty-five  years,  his  decided  hatred  to  reforms  of 
government  of  every  kind,  and  the  repeated  assurances  of  pro- 
tection which  he  had  invariably  received  from  that  party,  which 
had  long  been  known  by  the  title  of  the  King's  friends.  Surer 
protection  he  could  not  have  received.  By  command  of  the 
highest  authority  he  attended  a  council,  in  which  the  restora- 
tion of  himself  and  friends  was  unanimously  voted;  and 
he  received  a  letter  in  Mr.  Pitt's  own  handwriting,  directing 
him  to  return  to  Ireland  immediately  and  resume  his  situation 
at  the  revenue  board;  and  to  assure  his  friends,  the  attorney 
and  solicitor  general,  that  the  King  would  not  accept  of  their 
resignation." 

Mr.  Toler,  the  Solicitor-General,  one  of  the  "friends"  re- 
ferred to  above  and  one  of  the  individuals  Lord  Fitzwilliam 
had  insisted  should  be  dismissed  with  Beresford,  soon  after 
received  the  title  of  Lord  Norbury  as  a  reward  for  the  re- 
flection cast  upon  his  good  name  (!)  At  a  subsequent  period 
he  gained  much  notoriety  as  the  presiding  judge  at  the  trial 
of  Robert  Emmet. 

The  proof  is  conclusive  that  Lord  Fitzwilliam  became 
Lord  Lieutenant  of  Ireland  with  the  approval  of  Pitt,  of 
the  King  and  of  his  Ministry  with  the  full  understanding 
that  he  was  to  bring  about  Catholic  Emancipation  and  the 
different  reforms  desired  by  the  people.  Plowden  gives  a 
letter  from  Fitzwilliam'  to  Lord  Carlisle  stating  the  circum- 
stances : 

'Vol.  iv. ,  p.  127,  note. 


150  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

' '  From  the  very  beginning,  as  well  as  through  the  whole  pro- 
gress of  that  fatal  business,  for  fatal  I  fear,  I  must  call  it,  I  acted 
in  perfect  conformity  with  the  original  outline  settled  between  me 
and  his  Majesty's  Ministry,  previous  to  my  despatch  from  Lon- 
don. From  a  full  consideration  of  the  real  merits  of  the  case,  as 
well  as  from  every  information  I  had  been  able  to  collect  of  the 
state  and  temper  of  Ireland,  from  the  year  1790,  I  was  decidedly 
of  opinion,  that  not  only  sound  policy,  but  justice,  required,  on 
the  part  of  Great  Britain,  that  the  work,  which  was  left  imperfect 
at  that  period,  ought  to  be  completed,  and  the  Catholics  relieved 
from  every  remaining  disqualification.  In  this  opinion  the  Duke 
of  Portland  uniformly  concurred  with  me,  and  when  this  question 
came  under  discussion,  previous  to  my  departure  for  Ireland,  I 
found  the  cabinet,  with  Mr.  Pitt  at  their  head,  strongly  impressed 
with  the  same  conviction.  Had  I  found  it  otherwise,  I  never 
would  have  undertaken  the  government." 

Immediately  after  Lord  Fitzwilliam  assumed  the  head  of 
the  Irish  Government  he  caused  the  different  Acts  to  be 
presented  in  the  Parliament  and  took  other  measures  to 
bring  about  the  needed  reforms.  And  so  successful  was  he 
in  allaying  the  existing  state  of  irritation  which  had  been 
caused  by  the  preceding  Administration,  that  all  classes  soon 
vied  with  each  other  in  their  expressions  of  loyalty  for  the 
British  Government.  Notwithstanding  that  every  step  taken 
in  Ireland  was  promptly  reported  to  the  English  Minister, 
nearly  a  month  elapsed  before  the  first  expression  of  dis- 
satisfaction on  his  part  reached  Lord  Fitzwilliam.  Nor  did 
Pitt  allow  the  Irish  people  to  have  the  slightest  suspicion  of 
his  intended  course  until  after  the  Supply  Bill  had  been  acted 
upon.  In  the  meantime  so  much  enthusiasm  had  been 
roused  in  Ireland  that  an  augmented  Supply  Bill,  for  the 
enormous  sum  of  one  million  seven  hundred  thousand 
pounds,  was  passed  through  the  Irish  Parliament  without 
opposition  to  assist  England  in  her  contest  on  the  Continent. 

Immediately  after  this  occurrence  the  scene  was  suddenly 
changed  in  consequence  of  rumors  spreading  everywhere 
that  Lord  Fitzwilliam  was  to  be  recalled,  that  all  the  measures 


Fitzwilliam  Urges  Reforms  ;  Is  Recalled    151 

for  reform  which  had  been  introduced  into  Parliament  by 
him  were  be  to  withdrawn  and  that  Lord  Camden  was  to  be 
his  successor.  But  above  all  were  the  people  alarmed  be- 
cause Beresford  and  his  friends  were  exultant  and  boasted 
openly  that  the  management  of  Irish  affairs  would  now  be 
placed  entirely  in  their  hands  as  the  friends  of  the  English 
Government. 

We  will  again  quote  from  Plowden ' : 

"  The  report  of  Earl  Fitzwilliam's  intended  removal  was  no 
sooner  credited,  than  an  universal  despondency,  seized  the  whole 
nation.  Meetings  were  formed  throughout  the  Kingdom,  in 
order  to  convey  to  their  beloved  and  respected  governor,  their 
high  sense  of  his  virtue  and  patriotism,  and  their  just  indignation 
at  his  and  their  country's  enemies.  The  deep  and  settled  spirit 
of  discontent  which  at  that  time  prevailed  among  all  ranks  of  the 
people,  was  not  confined  to  the  Catholics.  The  Dissenters  and 
as  many  of  the  Protestants  of  the  establishment  as  had  not  an 
interest  in  the  monopoly  of  power  and  influence,  which  Earl 
Fitzwilliam  had  so  openly  attacked  and  so  fearfully  alarmed,  felt 
the  irresistible  effect;  all  good  Irishmen  beheld  with  sorrow  and 
indignation,  the  reconciliation  of  all  parties,  interests  and  religion 
defeated,  the  cup  of  national  union  dashed  from  their  eager  lips, 
and  the  spirit  of  discord  let  loose  upon  the  kingdom  with  an 
enlarged  commission  to  inflame,  aggravate,  and  destroy.  Such 
were  the  feelings,  and  such  the  language  of  those,  who  deplored 
the  removal  of  that  nobleman,  in  the  critical  moment  of  giving 
peace,  strength,  and  prosperity  to  their  country.  And  how  large 
a  part  of  the  Irish  nation  lamented  the  loss  of  their  truly  patriotic 
governor,  may  be  read  in  the  numberless  addresses  and  resolu- 
tions, that  poured  in  upon  him  both  before  and  after  his  actual 
departure,  expressive  of  their  grief,  despair,  and  indignation 
at  the  ominous  event.  They  came  from  every  description  of 
persons." 

Plowden  continues : 

"On  the  25th  of  March,  1795,  Lord  Fitwilham  took  his  de- 
parture from  Ireland,  when  the  resentment,  grief,  and  indigna- 

'Vol.  iv.,  pp.  155,  162. 


152  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

tion  of  the  public  were  most  strongly  marked.  It  was  a  day  of 
general  gloom;  the  shops  were  shut;  no  business  of  any  kind  was 
transacted,  and  the  whole  city  put  on  mourning.  His  coach  was 
drawn  to  the  water  side  by  some  of  the  most  respectable  citizens 
and  cordial  sorrow  appeared  on  every  countenance.  The  recep- 
tion of  Earl  Camden,  who  arrived  in  Dublin  five  days  after,  wore 
a  very  different  complexion;  displeasure  appeared  generally; 
many  strong  traits  of  disapprobation  were  exhibited,  and  some 
of  the  populace  were  so  outrageous,  that  it  became  necessary  to 
call  out  a  military  force  in  order  to  quell  the  disturbance  that 
ensued." 

From  the  day  Lord  Camden  was  placed  at  the  head  of 
Irish  affairs  free  license  seems  to  have  been  given  to  Beres- 
ford  and  his  kindred  spirits  to  commit  with  impunity  every 
crime  against  the  Irish  people,  in  which  they  acted  openly 
with  the  boast  of  Government  protection.  To  keep  within 
the  proposed  scope  of  this  Work  it  will  be  impossible  to  do 
more  than  give  a  general  idea  of  the  means  resorted  to,  by 
those  acting  in  the  English  interest,  to  goad  the  Irish  people 
into  rebellion.  Nor  can  more  than  a  general  outline  be 
traced  to  show  the  patience  and  forbearance  of  the  people 
during  two  years  which  elapsed  before  the  purpose  of  the 
English  Government  was  successful.  But  during  this  period, 
after  the  people  were  finally  driven  into  rebellion  and  until 
they  were  finally  crushed  out,  the  horrors  of  the  French 
Revolution  become  insignificant  in  comparison  with  the  suf- 
fering Ireland  experienced  at  the  hands  of  the  Hessian  and 
other  English  troops;  and  also  from  their  Irish  country- 
men, the  Orangemen,  who  were  even  more  brutal  than  their 
brutal  English  friends.  The  mortality  was  greatly  increased 
in  Ireland  in  consequence  of  the  countless  numbers  of  un- 
provoked murders  which  were  committed  by  the  soldiers,  of 
which  no  reckoning  was  kept  by  the  authorities  and  for 
which  no  one  was  punished.  The  Irish  people  suffered  from 
torture  and  from  crimes  unknown  to  the  French,  while  the 
women  in  France  were  spared  the  unspeakable  brutality 
which  was  commonly  inflicted  throughout  Ireland. 


Pitt,  the  "  Demon  of  Discord  "  153 

Plowden'  informs  us  that : 

"As  to  this  species  of  outrage,  which  rests  not  in  proof,  it  is 
universally  allowed  to  have  been  exclusively  on  the  side  of  the 
military.  ...  It  has  been  boasted  of  by  officers  of  rank, 
that  within  large  districts  a  woman  had  not  been  left  undefiled ; 
and  upon  observation  in  answer,  that  the  sex  must  have  been  very 
complying,  the  reply  was,  that  the  bayonet  removed  all  squeam- 
ishness!  " 

Napoleon  in  France  and  Pitt  at  the  head  of  the  British 
Government  were  the  demons  of  discord  who  were  at  this 
time  sacrificing  the  property  and  happiness  of  the  world. 

Yet,  if  it  were  possible  to  place  in  contrast  all  the  crime, 
suffering  and  misfortune,  with  all  the  consequences  which 
could  be  traced  directly  or  indirectly  to  the  acts  of  these  two 
men.  Napoleon  would  appear  as  an  angel  of  mercy  in  com- 
parison with  Pitt.  It  is  simply  special  pleading,  a  subter- 
fuge, to  maintain  that  Mr.  Pitt,  in  consequence  of  his  many 
cares  at  the  head  of  the  Ministry  in  England,  should  not  be 
held  blamable  for  the  misdeeds  of  his  officials  in  Ireland. 

No  one  but  himself  was  responsible  for  the  policy  of  the 
English  Government  previous  to  the  appointment  of  Lord 
Fitzwilliam  and  for  the  latter's  selection  and  administration ; 
and  he  was  as  equally  responsible  for  his  sudden  removal. 
He  certainly  approved  of  Lord  Camden,  who  came  to  Ireland 
instructed  to  carry  out  a  totally  different  policy,  which  was 
to  exasperate  the  people  to  establish  the ' '  Union. ' '  Nothing 
could  have  been  done  otherwise  without  his  approval.  Every 
local  official  was  appointed  in  accord  with  his  instructions  to 
Camden  and  the  course  which  each  followed  met  with  his 
full  approval. 

Moreover,  it  is  a  well-established  fact  that  in  several  in- 
stances he  disregarded  suggestions  of  a  different  policy  made 
by  his  Irish  officials,  the  only  redeeming  circumstances  in 
their  otherwise  disreputable  service. 

The  epigrammatic  statement  of  Shakespeare:  "The  evil 

■Vol,  iv. ,  p.  339,  note. 


154  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

that  men  do  lives  after  them  ;  the  good  is  often  interred  with 
their  bones  "  is  applicable  to  Pitt  in  his  relation  to  Ireland, 
in  so  far  that  the  evil  for  which  he  was  responsible  has  con- 
tinued. But  with  his  bones  was  interred  not  even  a  good 
intention ! 


CHAPTER   IX 

STATE  PAPERS  RELATING  TO  IRELAND  NOT  RELIABLE — 
THE  LEADERS  IN  1 798 — THEIR  PLANS  AND  OBJECT — 
SUFFERING  OF  THE  PEOPLE  DESIGNEDLY  INCREASED 
BY  THE  GOVERNMENT — THE  PRESS  GANG  AND  METH- 
ODS OF  OBTAINING  MEN  FOR  THE  NAVY — ORANGEMEN 
AND  "defenders" — ACTIONS  OF  THE  ORANGEMEN 
SECRETLY   PROTECTED   BY   THE   GOVERNMENT 

When  about  to  consider  the  Irish  troubles  of  1798  in  the 
light  of  history,  Mr.  Lecky  expresses  his  dif^culty  as  follows* : 

"It  is  with  a  feeling  of  unfeigned  diffidence  that  I  enter  upon 
this  branch  of  my  narrative.  Our  authentic  materials  are  so 
scanty,  and  so  steeped  in  party  and  sectarian  animosity  that  a 
writer  who  has  done  his  utmost  to  clear  his  mind  from  prejudice, 
and  bring  together  with  impartiality  the  conflicting  statements  of 
partisans,  will  still,  if  he  is  a  wise  man,  always  doubt  whether  he 
has  succeeded  in  painting  with  perfect  fidelity  the  delicate  grada- 
tion of  provocation,  palliation,  and  guilt." 

After  a  writer  has  made  so  honest  a  statement  it  would 
seem  scarcely  fair  to  criticise  the  result  were  it  not  that,  as 
the  latest  authority  on  the  condition  of  Ireland  in  the 
Eighteenth  Century,  his  deductions  might  therefore  pass 
unquestioned.  His  work  illustrates  an  honest  desire  to  carry 
out  his  purpose  and,  from  an  English  standpoint,  he  has 
been  successful.  But  he  presents  a  strange  gathering  of 
testimony,  which  would    bear   greater  weight  were  it  not 

'  Vol.  iii.,  p.  421. 
155 


156  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

that  the  information  cited  and  credited  to  many  in  reality- 
emanated  from  a  common  source.  While  the  array  does 
great  credit  to  his  research  much  which  has  been  presented 
as  authoritative  should  bear  little  weight  with  the  student 
of  Irish  history,  until  its  source  and  the  purpose  for  which 
it  was  originally  compiled  be  ascertained.  It  is  now  well 
known  that  the  common  origin  of  all  information  bearing 
upon  this  period  came  from  the  informer,  who  lived  on 
what  he  could  furnish,  or  from  the  partisan  who  always  had 
the  "grievance"  of  a  religious  bigot.  The  higher  the  rank 
of  the  Irish  ofificial  the  less  opportunity  he  had  to  form 
any  opinion  from  personal  observation  and  the  views  he 
expressed  were  necessarily  based  upon  information  gained 
at  second  hand  and  generally  given  for  the  purpose  of  mis- 
leading. Mr.  Lecky,  like  most  writers  in  English  interests 
before  him,  with  no  sympathy  for  the  United  Irishmen, 
had  his  views  unconsciously  influenced  by  the  material  to  be 
found  among  the  State  Papers.  The  Government  archives 
should  naturally  bear  great  weight,  were  it  not  that  there 
are  good  reasons  to  believe  that,  in  reference  to  Ireland  at 
least,  the  statements  and  evidence  to  be  found  among  these 
papers  cannot  be  always  depended  upon  for  truthfulness. 

It  is  in  no  cavilling  spirit  that  this  digression  has  been 
made,  for  the  writer  has  carefully  read  this  work  with  great 
interest  and  profit. 

His  object  is  to  show  that,  while  the  views  and  purposes 
of  the  United  Irishmen  are  not  as  a  rule  omitted  by  Mr. 
Lecky,  he  has  not  given  them  sufficient  prominence  for 
the  benefit  of  the  uninstructed  reader.  While  the  author 
of  this  historical  work  has  given  expression  in  a  laudatory 
manner  regarding  his  estimate  of  the  private  character  of 
Messrs.  O'Connor,  Emmet  and  McNeven,  the  chief  Execu- 
tive of  the  United  Irishmen,  his  opinion  as  expressed  of 
them  collectively  is  somewhat  modified.  Thus  we  find' : 
"Few  men  can  have  had  a  loftier  opinion  of  their  own 
merits  than  O'Connor,  Emmet  and  McNeven  and  they  have 

'  Lecky,  vol.  v.,  p.  loi. 


England  Prepares  for  the  ''Union  "      157 

written  with  burning  indignation  the  account  of  their 
wrongs." 

The  expression  of  indignation  on  their  part  was  perfectly 
natural,  as  the  Government  had  published  a  perverted  and 
garbled  account  of  their  secret  examination  while  in  prison, 
which  entirely  misrepresented  them  and,  as  is  evident,  this 
was  done  for  the  purpose  of  deceiving  the  people.  After 
these  gentlemen  had  had  the  opportunity,  through  the  aid 
of  friends,  to  publish  the  truth,  as  a  protest  and  that  the 
people  should  know  the  facts,  the  Government  subjected 
them  for  months  to  solitary  confinement.  Another  leader, 
Samuel  Neilson,'  imprisoned  at  the  same  time,  who  at- 
tempted to  contradict  a  similar  statement  published  by  the 
Government  in  regard  to  his  own  course,  was  informed  that 
if  he  persisted  in  his  attempt  to  contradict  the  version  pub- 
lished he  would  be  taken  out  and  hanged  without  trial.  On 
his  statement  that  the  contingency  of  his  death  was  a  matter 
of  indifference  to  him  he  was  then  informed  that,  if  he  made 
another  attempt  to  communicate  with  the  public,  all  the 
horrors  of  unrestrained  license,  which  had  been  but  a  short 
time  suspended,  would  be  again  resorted  to  throughout  the 
country ;  by  this  threat  his  silence  was  gained. 

Through  English  influence  the  same  policy  of  misrepre- 
sentation exists  even  to  the  present  day  and  Dr.  McNeven 
and  Mr.  Emmet,  at  least,  always  maintained  that  the  public 
records  had  been  falsified. 

It  is  not  within  the  scope  or  purpose  of  this  Work  to  give 
a  detailed  account  of  the  troubles  just  preceding  and  those 
existing  during  the  "Rebellion"  of  1798.  But  before  enter- 
ing upon  any  consideration  of  the  subject  we  will  first  state 
the  charges  made  by  the  leaders  of  the  United  Irishmen 
against  the  Government,  in  as  brief  a  manner  as  possible. 

It  is  a  well-established  fact  that  for  fully  fifty  years  before 
the  "Union"  was  finally  established  the  advisability  of  per- 
petrating such  a  measure,  for  the  advantage  of  Great  Britain, 

'  See  Neilson's  account  of  the  compact  with  the  Government,  Madden's 
United  Irishmen,  fourth  series,  i860. 


158  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

had  been  frequently  considered  by  different  members  of  the 
English  Government. 

In  1782,  when  England  was  obliged  to  recognize  the 
nationality  of  Ireland  as  a  distinct  Kingdom  with  an  inde- 
pendent Parliament,  she  also  yielded  other  so-called  conces- 
sions; but  all  these  were  granted  with  the  usual  secret 
reservation  on  the  part  of  England  to  break  faith  with 
Ireland  whenever  it  was  to  her  advantage  to  do  so. 

Ireland  prospered  in  a  remarkable  manner  as  soon  as  she 
was  able  to  manage  her  own  commercial  affairs.  In  time 
the  people  became  united  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  many 
other  reforms  which  England  never  intended  to  grant ;  but 
until  she  recuperated  her  strength  she  temporized  and  mis- 
led the  people.  After  everything  had  been  promised  and 
after  the  point  had  been  reached  where  all  the  leaders  were 
fully  satisfied  that  their  own  individual  measures  were  to  be 
established,  when  the  country  as  a  consequence  was  never 
more  loyal  to  the  British  Government,  Lord  Camden  was 
made  Viceroy.  He  was  appointed  for  the  purpose  of  press- 
ing every  obnoxious  measure  calculated  to  rouse  the  people 
to  a  state  of  desperation  which,  it  was  expected,  would 
ultimately  force  them  into  rebellion ;  from  the  resultant 
horrors  of  this  step,  it  was  believed,  they  would  suffer  so 
much  that  all  classes,  even  from  different  standpoints,  would 
eventually  be  willing  to  accept  the  Union  which  England 
had  determined  to  force. 

The  leaders  of  the  United  Irishmen  did  not  at  the  time 
of  their  arrest  intend  a  separation  from  England,  if  it 
were  possible  to  obtain  the  needed  reforms  in  Ireland.  The 
movement  was  an  overwhelmingly  Protestant  one  and,  for 
reasons  to  be  stated  hereafter,  the  Catholics,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  a  few  individuals,  did  not  take  an  active  part. 
To  bring  about  the  result  desired  by  the  Government  the 
greatest  degree  of  lawlessness  was  not  only  permitted  but 
its  exercise  was  encouraged  throughout  the  country.  The 
English  Government  were  fully  aware,  through  the  infor- 
mation given  by  Reynolds  and  others,  that  Mr.    Emmet, 


England  Goads  the  People  to  Rebel    159 

Dr.  McNeven  and  Mr.  O'Connor,  who  formed  the  Execu- 
tive, were  opposed  to  an  outbreak  and,  being  at  the  head 
of  the  movement,  would  be  able  to  hold  for  an  indefinite 
time  in  check  the  people  as  well  as  certain  leaders  of  inferior 
rank  who  were  urgent  for  the  commencement  of  hostilities, 
A  few  arms  and  pikes  had  been  collected  and  France  had 
been  approached  with  the  object  of  obtaining  assistance,  in 
case  this  were  necessary  as  a  last  resort.  In  consequence  of 
these  facts  it  has  been  held  by  all  writers  in  the  English 
interest  that  the  statement  made  by  the  Executive  Directors 
could  not  be  true  and  yet  an  unbiased  criticism  would  be 
that,  if  they  were  open  to  censure,  it  was  that  they  failed  in 
not  making  a  greater  provision  for  a  contingency  which 
could  not  be  otherwise  met. 

Mr.  Emmet  stated  under  oath,  at  his  examination  before 
the  committee  of  Parliament,  that  if  the  slightest  promise  of 
concession  had  been  made  by  England  there  would  have 
been  no  outbreak,  even  after  the  French  entered  Bantry 
Bay.  But  the  Government  suddenly  put  the  whole  country 
under  martial  law  and  arrested  all  the  prominent  leaders,  as 
they  could  have  done  on  the  same  information  months  be- 
fore. The  Orange  yeomanry  were  quartered  on  the  people 
with  full  license,  which  enabled  them  to  commit  every  crime. 

Mr.  Emmet  testified  under  oath  at  the  same  examination 
that  at  the  time  of  the  arrest  of  the  leaders  no  plan  of 
organization  had  been  determined  upon  for  a  resort  to  arms. 
The  purpose  of  the  Government  was  at  length  accomplished 
when  in  desperation  the  people  in  several  localities  resorted 
to  open  resistance  under  inexperienced  leaders  and  with 
only  the  pike  with  which  to  defend  themselves. 

Yet  no  active  steps  were  taken  at  first  by  the  Government 
to  suppress  the  movement,  which  could  have  been  easily 
done,  and  the  chief  efforts  of  the  military  seemed  directed 
rather  to  spread  the  disturbance  than  to  check  it.  After 
weeks  of  delay  and  with  no  prospect  of  a  general  outbreak,  the 
troops,  formed  of  Orangemen,  were  then  suddenly  sent  into 
County  Wexford  amidst   the    densest  Catholic  population 


i6o  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

in  Ireland,  where  the  people  were  as  peaceful  and  as 
observant  of  the  laws  as  in  any  portion  of  England.  Here 
the  United  Irishmen  had  never  been  able  to  establish 
a  single  branch  of  the  society.  We  will  see  the  purpose 
and  result  of  this  move  later  on.  The  Catholics  in  no  other 
portion  of  Ireland  took  part,  unless  in  isolated  instances 
where  troops  had  been  quartered  on  them,  and  there  was 
but  slight  disturbance  in  Ulster,  where  the  United  Irish- 
men were  in  greater  numbers.  The  country  to  the  north 
was  quiet  but  not,  as  claimed  by  the  friends  of  the  Govern- 
ment, in  consequence  of  the  excesses  which  it  was  charged 
had  been  committed  in  Wexford  by  the  Catholics,  who  had 
been  driven  there  to  desperation.  England  had  not  yet 
succeeded  in  rousing  the  religious  prejudices  of  the  Presby- 
terians nor  of  the  Protestants,  outside  of  the  organization  of 
the  Orangemen,  and  the  people  of  Ulster  at  that  time  under- 
stood perfectly  the  condition  of  the  Catholics  in  Wexford. 

The  leaders  in  Ulster  had  from  the  beginning  been  almost 
a  unit  in  opposition  to  a  resort  to  arms  and  were  equally 
opposed  to  a  separation  from  England,  if  it  were  possible  to 
avoid  it.  After  the  arrest  of  their  leaders  they  were  still 
more  opposed  to  a  move  which  they  realized  was  with- 
out prospect  of  success.  The  slight  outbreak  which  did 
take  place  in  Ulster  met  with  no  support.  The  punishment 
of  the  people  was  not  stopped  when  they  had  ceased  to  offer 
resistance  and  had  been  disarmed  but  by  every  pretext  the 
disturbed  state  of  the  country  was  maintained  until  a  point 
had  been  reached  where  the  English  Government  could 
safely  force  upon  the  suffering  people  the  contemplated 
Union ;  even  then  this  was  consummated  only  by  means  of 
bribery  and  intimidation  and  by  every  other  form  of  corrup- 
tion which  the  ingenuity  of  unprincipled  men  could  devise. 

For  several  years  the  religious  feuds  at  the  north  had 
been  kept  somewhat  in  check  through  the  personal  influence 
of  prominent  Presbyterians  and  Catholics.  But  many  of 
the  young  Protestants  in  the  neighborhood,  whose  fathers 
were  the  great  land-holders  or  manufacturers,  had  banded 


Orangemen  "Turned  Loose"  upon  Ireland  i6i 

together  for  the  purpose  of  enforcing  an  old  law  forbidding 
Catholics  to  possess  arms.  Under  the  pretext  of  searching 
for  arms  these  nocturnal  expeditions  were  frequently  made 
the  occasion  for  some  greater  outrage,  which  the  Catholics 
naturally  resented.  Yet  so-called  history  holds  these  un- 
organized, disarmed,  ignorant  Catholic  people  responsible 
for  committing  the  alleged  outrages  by  attacking  large 
bodies  of  thoroughly  organized,  mounted  and  well-armed 
Protestants  or  Orangemen  who  it  is  not  presumable  were 
roving  over  the  country  night  after  night  without  purpose. 
Yet  they  were  officially  supposed  to  have  no  connection  with 
the  house-burnings,  murder  and  other  crimes  which,  how- 
ever, the  Irish  people  could  not  have  inflicted  on  themselves. 
The  Orangemen,  now  that  their  organization  had  not  even 
the  check  of  public  opinion  and  with  the  secret  protection 
of  the  Government  as  well  as  that  exercised  by  their  kins- 
men the  magistrates  and  all  other  local  officials,  ceased  to 
be  under  any  restraint  and  no  mercy  was  shown  to  a  "De- 
fender." 

Mr.  Emmet '  cites  the  following  circumstances,  the  knowl- 
edge of  which  was  doubtless  gained  from  personal  observa- 
tion as  he  quotes  no  authority : 

"  Lord  Carhampton^  had  gone  down  to  quell  the  insurrection, 
and  after  he  had  succeeded,  thinking  perhaps  that  legal  proceed- 
ings were  tedious  and  sometimes  uncertain  in  their  issue,  he 
delivered  the  goals  of  most  of  their  inhabitants,  by  taking  such 
as  he  thought  fit,  and  sending  them,  without  form,  of  trial,  or  other 
warrant  but  his  own  military  order,  to  serve  on  board  the  fleet. 
In  this  manner  nearly  1300  persons  were  transported,  not  by 
their  own  connivance,  nor  as  a  kind  of  voluntary  commutation  of 
what  they  might  suffer  if  rigorously  persecuted.     On  the  contrary, 

'  Pieces  of  Irish  History,  p.  133. 

'  This  man  was  the  commander-in-chief  and  from  the  license  practised  by 
himself,  with  that  allowed  the  troops,  the  policy  was  established  to  exasperate 
the  people  into  resistance,  as  a  consequence  of  the  excesses  committed  by  them. 
Half-hangings,  torture,  house-burnings,  shooting  of  innocent  persons  and  the 
defilement  of  the  wives  and  daughters  of  the  Irish  people  were  committed 
wherever  his  troops  were  quartered. 


VOL.  I.  — II. 


1 62  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

it  was  not  even  pretended  that  those  selected  were  accused  of 
the  most  serious  crimes,  or  the  most  likely  to  meet  conviction 
before  a  jury,  nor  was  the  act  attributed  by  the  inhabitants  of 
the  country  to  a  misjudged  lenity.  Indeed  the  objects  of  this 
summary  measure  were  frequently  seen  tied  down  on  carts,  in  the 
bitterest  agonies  crying  incessantly  for  trial,  but  crying  in  vain. 
This  conduct  marked  his  lordship's  attachment  to  Government 
too  strongly  not  to  have  its  imitators.  Magistrates,  therefore, 
without  military  commissions,  but  within  the  influence  of  his 
example,  assumed  to  themselves  also  the  authority  of  transporting 
without  trial." 

Many  thousands  of  the  young  Catholic  Irishmen  were 
either  seized  by  the  Press  Gang  or  were  sent  without  trial 
and  even  on  false  charges  on  board  the  English  naval 
vessels,  where  in  the  surrounding  discipline  they  became 
helpless.  They  were  there  doomed  to  the  most  brutal 
slavery,  from  which  nothing  but  death  could  liberate  them 
unless  in  some  rare  instances  an  opportunity  occurred  for 
an  escape.  The  celebrated  mutiny  at  the  Nore  in  May, 
1797,  was  caused  by  the  great  numbers  of  young  Irishmen 
who  were  impressed  into  the  British  Navy  for  a  life  of  the 
most  brutal  servitude,  where  on  any  pretext  they  were  either 
shot  or  hanged  to  the  yard-arm  without  the  slightest  hesita- 
tion on  the  part  of  those  in  command. 

Plowden  was  not  an  Irish  sympathizer  in  any  respect '  but 
he  always  made  an  effort  to  be  just.  Yet  he  also  falls  into 
this  common  error  of  charging  the  "Defenders"  with  com- 
mitting the  outrages  which  were  perpetrated  in  their  neigh- 
borhood :  and  withal  he  was  unable  to  realize  that  the  Irish 

'  So  far  from  being  this,  it  is  well  known  that  he  was  an  Englishman  of 
strong  prejudices  in  favor  of  the  "  Union  "  and  a  personal  friend  of  Pitt,  who  em- 
ployed him  to  write  a  special  history,  an  old  trick  of  the  Government.  But  as 
Plowden  was  an  honest  man  and  did  not  falsify  the  records  to  favor  the 
authorities,  he  was  not  remunerated  but  persecuted  for  his  failure  to  such  an 
extent  as  to  be  obliged  to  leave  the  country.  He  lived  for  many  years  in 
Paris  in  poverty,  a  ruined  man  through  the  influence  of  the  English  Govern- 
ment. As  Plowden  was  not  a  partisan,  frequent  extracts  have  been  taken 
from  his  work  as  from  a  very  reliable  source. 


Orangemen  Employed  as  "Head-Hunters"  163 

people  had  any  provocation.  As  he  was  honest  in  stating 
what  he  thought  to  be  true,  the  writer  has  depended  to  a 
great  degree  upon  his  work  to  furnish  evidence  against  the 
English  Government.     Plowden  states  ' : 

"It  cannot  elude  the  observation  of  every  candid  man,  who 
considers  the  nature  and  progress  of  that  horrible  rebellion,  which 
afterwards  broke  out  openly  in  the  year  1798,  that  the  greater 
part  of  the  individuals  were  unfortunately  involved  in  it,  by  im- 
perceptible gradation,  by  deception,  art,  malice,  menace,  or 
intimidation  of  the  leaders  and  directors." 

Some  of  the  supposed  leaders  we  now  know  were  from  the 
beginning  in  the  pay  of  the  English  Government  and  a 
judgment  formed  from  the  acts  of  these  men  to  some  extent 
justified  Plowden's  statement. 

We  continue  to  quote  from  the  same  author: 

"As  the  summer  advanced,  the  public  fever  quickened.  Many 
outrages  of  the  Defenders  were  punished  in  a  most  unwarrantable 
manner  upon  innocent  untried  persons  by  the  military;  upon 
mere  suspicion  or  absence  of  a  landlord,  they  burned  houses, 
they  often  maimed  and  in  some  instances  murdered  the  natives, 
who  unfortunately  inhabited  the  districts,  into  which  they  were 
sent.  Nothing  so  strongly  tends  to  irritate  the  popular  mind,  as 
the  commission  of  crime  under  the  colour  of  authority.  In  one 
instance  a  certain  colonel  was  at  the  assizes  of  Armagh,  tried  and 
found  guilty  of  murdering  a  Mr.  Lucas;  upon  his  receiving  sentence 
he  produced  his  Majesty' s  pardon  and  was  instantly  liberated.  This 
circumstance  greatly  irritated  the  people." 

It  was  indeed  a  rare  circumstance  that  a  soldier,  as  in  this 
instance,  was  ever  tried  by  the  local  authorities  for  murder 
or  any  other  crime  in  Ireland  and  the  circumstances  in  this 
particular  case  must  have  been  unusually  aggravated  to 
force  a  magistrate  to  act.  But  the  remarkable  feature  was 
that  any  individual  should  have  been  provided  beforehand 
with  a  kind  of  roving  pardon  from  the  King  which  was  to 

'  Vol.  Iv.,  pp.  218,  219, 


164  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

give  him  license  to  commit  any  crime  and  thus  be  protected 
from  the  consequences  !  Nor  was  this  instance  the  only  one 
on  record  where  a  similar  protection  had  been  granted  to  an 
Orangeman  by  the  British  Government. 

Plowden,  in  a  foot-note  following  the  last  quotation,  in 
reference  to  the  connivance  of  the  Government  and  the 
protection  extended  to  the  Orangemen,  states : 

"  Three  Orangemen  voluntarily  made  oath  before  a  magistrate 
of  the  county  of  Down  and  Armagh,  that  they  met  in  committees; 
amongst  whom  were  some  members  of  parliament,  who  gave 
these  people  money  and  promised  they  should  not  suffer  for  any 
act  they  might  commit ;  and  pledged  themselves  that  they  would 
hereafter  be  provided  for  under  the  auspices  of  the  Government." 

And  again  in  the  same  note : 

"About  the  same  time  a  number  of  delegates  from  the  Orange- 
men met  in  the  town  of  Armagh,  and  entered  into  resolutions, 
which  they  published:  in  these  resolutions  they  recommended  to 
the  gentlemen  of  fortune  to  open  a  subscription,  declaring,  '  That 
the  two  guineas  allowed  them  per  man  by  Governmetit  was  not  suffi- 
cient to  purchase  clothes  and  accoutrements  /  '  " 

It  has  often  been  asserted  that  the  Orangemen,  notwith- 
standing the  atrocities  committed  by  them,  were  not  only 
protected  by  the  English  Government  but  were  also  sub- 
sidized by  it.  On  the  above  evidence  given  by  Plowden  it 
would  seem  sufficiently  proved  that  there  existed  at  least 
good  foundation  for  the  charge. 

The  magistrates  were  all  Orangemen  and  made  no  pre- 
tence to  disguise  their  feeling  of  sympathy  for  their 
kinsmen,  the  yeomanry.  The  administration  of  justice 
consequently  became  a  farce.  Mr.  Sampson  cites  one  in- 
stance when  the  Government,  for  appearances  at  least,  was 
obliged  to  prosecute  but  rewarded  afterwards  * : 

"A  Magistrate  named  Green,  of  the  county  Armagh,  had  been 
convicted  of  gross  partiality,  and  sentenced  to  six  months  im- 

^  Memoirs  of  Win.  Sampson,  an  Irish  Exile,  etc.,  London,  1832,  p.  29,  note. 


"  Peep-o'Day-Boys  "  and  *'  Defenders"  165 

prisonment,  and  a  fine  of  200  Pounds.  He  was  of  course  stripped 
of  his  commission  of  the  peace,  and  committed  to  Newgate.  But 
by  the  interest  of  Lord  Clare,  his  fine  was  reduced  to  sixpence, 
and  he  was  again  restored  to  the  commission  of  the  peace!  " 

As  Mr.  Emmet  had  a  personal  knowledge  of  the  troubles 
in  County  Armagh,  we  will  again  quote  from  his  work ' : 

"In  the  province  of  Ulster,  the  county  of  Armagh  and  its 
borders  exhibited  a  scene  of  more  melancholy  disturbances,  and 
more  abominable  oppression  than  afflicted  or  disgraced  the  rest 
of  Ireland.  The  religious  animosities  that  had  raged  so  violently 
in  1793,  appeared  to  have  been  subdued  by  the  combined  effort 
of  liberal  Catholics  and  Dissenters,  by  the  unremitting  exertions 
of  the  United  Irishmen  of  that  day,  and  by  the  conciliatory  senti- 
ments which  flowed  from  the  press,  so  far  as  it  was  in  the  same 
interest.  The  press,  however,  was  subsequently  reduced  almost 
to  silence;  and  the  recent  coercive  statutes  had  nearly  annihilated 
all  pubhc  efforts  by  united,  or  even  liberal  Irishmen,  on  any 
subject  of  general  politics,  except  during  the  transitory  adminis- 
tration of  Lord  Fitzwilliam.  The  barriers  to  the  revival  of  those 
animosities  being  thus  broken  down,  they  again  desolated  the 
country  with  augmented  fury.  The  Peep-o'day-boys,  who 
originally  pretended  only  to  enforce  the  popery  laws,  by  depriv- 
ing Catholics  of  their  arms,  now  affected  more  important  objects. 
They  claimed  to  be  associated  for  the  support  of  a  Protestant 
Government,  and  a  Protestant  succession,  which  they  said  was 
endangered  by  the  increased  power  of  the  Catholics  in  the  State, 
and  they  therefore  adopted  the  name  of  Orangemen,  to  express 
their  attachment  to  the  memory  of  that  prince,  to  whom  they 
owed  those  blessings.  .  .  .  With  this  change  of  name,  they 
asserted  they  had  also  gained  an  accession  of  strength ;  for  the 
Peep-o'day-boys  only  imagined  they  were  supported  by  the  law 
of  the  land,  in  their  depredations  on  their  Catholic  neighbours; 
but  the  Orangemen  boasted  a  protection  greater  than  even  that 
of  the  law — the  connivance  and  concealed  support  of  those  who 
were  bound  to  see  it  fairly  administered.  Thus  emboldened, 
and   as   they  alleged,    reinforced,    they    renewed  their  ancient 

'  Pieces  of  Irish  History,  etc.,  pp.  134-138. 


1 66  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

persecutions;  but  not  content  with  stripping  Catholics  of  arms, 
they  now  went  greater  lengths  than  they  had  ever  done  before,  in 
adding  insult  to  injury,  sometimes  by  mocking  the  solemnity  of 
their  worship,  and  at  others,  even  by  firing  into  the  coffins  of  the 
dead  on  their  way  to  the  sepulture. 

"  The  Catholics  were  by  no  means  inclined  to  submit  with 
tameness  to  these  outrages.  The  defender  system  had  nearly 
included  all  of  that  persuasion  in  the  lov/er  ranks,  and  scarcely 
any  others  were  to  be  found  in  the  neighborhood.  They  seized 
some  opportunities  of  retaliating  and  thus  restored  to  defender- 
ism,  in  that  part  of  the  country,  its  original  character  of  a  religious 
feud.  These  mutual  irritations  still  increasing,  at  length  pro- 
duced open  hostilities." 

Mr.  Emmet  shows  that  the  Orangemen  were  well  armed 
and  ofificered  and,  moreover,  under  no  restraint  of  the  law, 
so  that  the  unarmed  Catholics  were  unable  to  offer  any 
concerted  resistance.  But  the  Catholics  were  at  length 
compelled  to  make  a  final  stand  in  which  they  were  nearly 
annihilated. 

Mr.  Emmet  then  continues  his  narrative: 

"  The  Catholics  after  this  transaction,  never  attempted  to  make 
a  stand,  but  the  Orangemen  commenced  a  persecution  of  the 
blackest  die.  They  would  no  longer  permit  a  Catholic  to  exist 
in  the  country.  They  posted  up  on  the  cabins  of  those  unfortu- 
nate victims  this  pithy  notice — '  To  hell  or  Connaught !  '  and  ap- 
pointed a  limited  time  in  which  the  necessary  removal  of  persons 
and  property  was  to  be  made.  If  after  the  expiration  of  that 
period,  the  notice  had  not  been  entirely  complied  with,  the 
Orangemen  assembled,  destroyed  the  furniture,  burnt  the  habit- 
ations, and  forced  the  ruined  family  to  fly  elsewhere  for  shelter 
So  punctual  were  they  in  executing  their  threats,  that  after  some 
experiments  none  were  found  rash  enough  to  abide  the  event  of 
non-compliance.  In  this  way  upwards  of  seven  hundred  Catholic 
families  in  one  county,  were  forced  to  abandon  their  farms,  their 
dwellings  and  their  properties,  without  any  process  of  law,  and 
were  without  any  alleged  crimes,  except  their  religious  belief  be 
one." 


Orange  Licentiousness  Protected        167 

Mr.  Emmet,  a  Protestant,  thus  stated  what  was  known  to 
him  personally  to  be  true.  It  is,  moreover,  a  well-known 
fact,  based  on  the  testimony  of  many  other  writers,  that 
the  same  lawless  condition  was  fostered  in  Ireland  by  the 
British  Government  wherever  the  Orangemen  were  in  the 
majority  and  that  not  the  slightest  effort  was  made  to  check 
their  brutality  nor  their  unutterable  licentiousness. 

Dr.  Madden,  who  lived  at  a  period  when  he  was  able  to 
obtain  accurate  information  from  those  who  had  a  personal 
knowledge  of  all  the  facts,  makes  the  following  statement ' : 

"  The  fact  of  the  protection  of  the  '  Peep-o'Day-Boys,'  or  the 
Orangemen,  on  the  part  of  the  Government  of  those  times,  admits 
of  no  doubt.  When  the  Insurrection  Act  and  the  Convention 
Bill  were  introduced  the^excesses  of  the  peasantry,  whom  they 
had  goaded  into  resistance,  were  denounced  by  the  Viceroy  and 
the  legal  officers  of  the  Government ;  but  not  the  slightest  allusion 
was  made  to  the  outrages  of  the  exterminators  of  Armagh;  nay, 
Bills  of  indemnity  were  passed  to  protect  their  leaders  and  magis- 
terial accomplices  from  all  legal  proceedings  on  the  part  of  their 
victims." 

Plowden  states ' : 

"In  the  spring  of  this  year,  the  public  believed,  (Whether 
rightly  or  wrongly,  the  effect  was  the  same)  that  about  5,000 
(some  say  7,000)  Catholics  had  been  forced  or  burned  out  of  the 
county  of  Armagh ;  and  that  the  ferocious  bandits  who  had  ex- 
pelled them  had  been  encouraged,  connived  at,  countenanced, 
instigated,  or  protected  by  the  Government." 

Plowden's  statement  regarding  public  opinion  as  to  the 
action  of  the  Government  in  the  county  of  Armagh  was 
true  and  was  as  applicable  to  the  whole  of  Ireland.  But 
sophistry  has  been  employed  and  fallacious  evidence  cited, 
by  different  writers,  in  an  attempt  to  deny  the  truth  of  this 
charge  which  was  so  generally  believed  at  the  time;  and 

'  The  United  Irishmen,  first  series,  p.  40. 
*  Vol.  iv.,  p.  410. 


1 68  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

the  same  is  true  in  regard  to  the  alleged  object  of  the  Gov- 
ernment— to  force  the  Irish  people  into  rebellion  that  the 
"  Union  "  might  be  brought  about. 

We  find  in  An  Account  of  the  Treaty  betiveen  the  United 
Irisliinen  and  the  Anglo-IrisJi  Governmetit  in  lygS^  : 

"  So  little  was  the  policy  of  the  British  Cabinet  on  this  subject  a 
secret  even  out  of  Ireland,  that  the  director  Carnot  told  Dr.  Mac- 
Neven  in  August,  1798,  that  a  union  was  Mr.  Pitt's  object  in  his 
vexatious  treatment  of  Ireland,  and  that  it  behoved  the  United 
Irishmen  to  be  aware  of  his  schemes." 

On  the  following  page : 

"  We  have  the  authority  of  the  American  Congress  that  the 
colonies  were  driven  designedly  into  resistance,  for  the  purpose 
of  giving  an  opportunity  to  impose  on  them  a  standing  army, 
illegal  taxes  and  to  establish  among  them  a  system  of  despotism. 
This  arbitrary  project,  after  miscarrying  in  America,  is  transferred 
by  the  same  Monarch  to  Ireland  and  unhappily  succeeded  there. 
Before  assistance  could  be  obtained  against  his  schemes,  from 
the  natural  ally  of  his  persecuted  subjects,  an  enlarged  scope  was 
given  to  the  intolerable  practice  of  house-burnings,  free  quarters, 
tortures  and  summary  executions,  which  as  the  ministry  con- 
tended, exploded  in  rebellion.  After  this  manner  they  facilitated 
the  union;  but  neither  the  recollection  of  the  means  nor  the 
nature  of  the  measure  could  have  any  other  effect  than  to 
strengthen  the  desire  of  separation." 

If  in  the  history  of  Ireland  it  were  possible  to  show  that 
at  one  period  more  than  at  another  a  greater  degree  of  in- 
justice was  meted  out  to  the  Irish  people  in  the  name  of 
justice,  that  distinction  might  be  claimed  for  the  time  just 
preceding  and  during  the  so-called  Rebellion  of  1798. 

We  will  show  that  the  law  gave  protection  to  no  Irishman 
as  to  his  liberty  or  his  life.  Jury  packing  and  false  swearing 
seem  to  have  been  perfected  with  less  regard  for  human 
life  if  possible  than  before.     But  in  fact  there  existed  but 

^  Pieces  of  Irish  History,  etc.,  p.  170,  note. 


Lecky  Unjust  to  Catholic  ''  Defenders"  169 

little  change ;  only  the  outward  form  of  justice  which  had 
been  used  as  a  cloak  was  thrown  aside,  revealing  the  true 
condition  which  had  been  maintained  for  centuries  and 
which  exists  in  Ireland  to  the  present  day. 

It  becomes,  therefore,  necessary  for  the  reader  to  appre- 
ciate fully  the  conditions  that  have  been  described  in  their 
causal  aspect,  before  the  result  can  be  advantageously  con- 
sidered. 

The  evidence  presented  by  Lecky  as  a  whole  shows  that 
the  Catholics  previous  to  the  outbreak  in  1798  were  the 
aggrieved  party;  but  this  judgment  is  tempered  by  the 
statement  that  there  were  grievous  faults  committed  and 
many  provocations  given  on  each  side,  with  other  extenuat- 
ing causes,  which  would  rather  reflect  on  the  Catholics 
were  the  provocation  not  considered.  In  a  previous  chap- 
ter, when  treating  of  the  early  movement  of  the  "Defend- 
ers," he  gives  Musgrave,  an  English  partisan  writer,  who 
received  an  office  for  writing  his  so-called  history,  as  the 
authority  for  the  following  ' : 

"  In  the  country  of  Louth,  the  Catholics  appear  to  have  been 
the  chief  offenders,  for  it  is  stated  that  in  the  Spring  assizes  of 
1793  at  Dundalk  twenty-one  Defenders  were  sentenced  to  death 
and  thirty-seven  to  transportation  and  imprisonment,  while  thir- 
teen trials  for  murder  were  postponed." 

At  the  same  time  not  a  single  individual  was  even  arrested 
among  the  overwhelming  numbers  on  the  other  side ! 

For  the  student  of  Irish  history  who  can  divest  himself  of 
English  influence  no  more  convincing  evidence  of  the  inno- 
cence of  these  men  could  be  presented  than  to  cite  the  pro- 
portion of  them  convicted. 

In  the  last  century,  if  not  up  to  a  later  period,  the  trial  of 
a  prisoner  in  Ireland  on  any  political  or  criminal  charge  was 
generally  paramount  to  a  conviction,  unless  he  was  a  sup- 
porter of  the  Government  as  a  spy  or  could  be  made  other- 
wise useful. 

'  Lecky,  vol.  iii.,  p.  213. 


170  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

As  in  the  past  the  same  condition  exists  at  the  present 
time.  Packing  a  jury,  deciding  beforehand  as  to  the  nature 
of  the  verdict  to  be  rendered,  with  the  use  of  false  witnesses, 
has  been  the  practice  of  English  ofificials  for  several  hundred 
years  in  Ireland,  so  that  the  administration  of  justice  in  that 
country  has  been,  as  a  rule,  a  farce  for  all  who  have  not 
been  friendly  to  the  British  Government.  Noted  instances 
there  have  been  of  the  righteous  judge  but  in  the  end  he 
has  always  failed  to  change  a  condition  which  has  ever  been 
sanctioned  by  the  Government. 

Until  the  Local  Government  Bill  (which  will  be  treated 
of  hereafter)  came  into  operation,  by  which  the  Irish  people 
were  unexpectedly  enabled  to  obtain  some  control  of  their 
local  affairs,  the  Government  ofificials  have  never  failed  in 
obtaining  any  verdict  desired.  This  fact  has  been  so  gener- 
ally accepted  that  it  is  scarcely  necessary  to  do  more  than 
cite  the  existing  conditions,  as  an  additional  injustice  from 
which  the  Irish  people  have  so  long  suffered.  No  man  in 
Ireland,  known  to  be  a  practical  Catholic  by  the  observance 
of  his  religious  duties,  has  ever  been  allowed  to  serve  on  the 
Grand  Jury  wherever  it  has  been  in  the  power  of  an  Anglo- 
Irish  official  to  prevent  his  doing  so.  Catholics  are  sum- 
monsed regularly,  according  to  law,  but  in  every  instance 
they  are  made  to  "stand  aside"  from  the  jury  box  in  all 
political  trials  and  in  every  case  where  a  "friend  of  the  Gov- 
ernment" (to  observe  the  form)  is  placed  on  trial  for  the 
purpose  of  being  whitewashed  and  not  convicted.  This  re- 
jection of  Catholics  is  done  regularly,  notwithstanding  that 
the  law,  as  in  every  country,  limits  the  number  which  can 
be  rejected  without  question.  The  only  limit  practised  has 
been  shown  in  a  determined  purpose  that  no  Catholic 
should  exercise  the  rights  enjoyed  by  his  Protestant  neigh- 
bor, to  which  he  has  been  entitled  by  law  for  over  sev- 
enty years.  The  same  result  has  been  obtained  through- 
out Ireland  wherever  the  English  official  is  able  to  exercise 
his  power.  The  same  spirit  of  bigotry  has  been  as  apparent, 
whether  the  jury  was   impanelled  in  the  most  Protestant 


Judicial  Injustice  a  Permanent  Policy    171 

portion  of  Ulster  or  in  some  densely  settled  Catholic  sec- 
tion, where,  to  preserve  the  form  of  having  twelve  jurymen, 
it  was  sometimes  necessary  to  bring  in  from  a  neighboring 
district  some  Protestant,  "friendly  to  the  Government,"  as 
the  odd  man. 

In  Ireland  no  law  has  ever  seemed  to  exercise  any  special 
influence  on  the  average  judge,  jury  or  English  official,  be- 
yond its  application  to  the  purpose  of  inflicting  the  most 
grievous  punishment  admissible  under  it  on  those  of  the 
Irish  people  who  were  not  in  sympathy  with  the  British 
Government. 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  features  in  the  administration 
of  Irish  "justice"  is  the  fact  that  the  method  of  "stuffing" 
the  jury  box  has  been  conducted  always  with  the  strict 
observance  of  all  due  form  and  with  apparently  as  much 
honesty  of  purpose  as  if  the  function  was  legal  throughout.' 

In  the  following  chapter  this  subject  will  be  treated  of  in 
detail. 

*  See  Appendix,  note  lo. 


CHAPTER   X 

ENGLISH    METHODS:    THE    "  BATTALION   OF  TESTIMONY  " 

—  FALSE  SWEARING  AND  PACKING  THE  JURY  BOX  — 
CHARACTER  OF  SOME  OF  THE  JUDGES  —  DISCRIMI- 
NATION AGAINST   THE   CATHOLICS — THE    ORANGEMEN 

—  THEIR  ANCESTORS  FLED  AT  THE  BATTLE  OF  THE 
BOYNE  —  THEIR  USEFULNESS  TO  THE  GOVERNMENT 
IN  CREATING  DISORDER  —  ORANGEMEN  GENERALLY 
CONSIDERED  TO-DAY  ONLY  WORTHY  OF  CONTEMPT 

At  every  police  centre,  as  will  be  shown  hereafter,  there 
was  maintained  a  "battalion  of  testimony,"  the  members 
of  which  were  regularly  drilled  in  the  art  of  swearing  and 
in  other  business  connected  with  the  occupation  of  "in- 
formers and  fabricators  of  information."  That  the  facility 
for  obtaining  accomplished  witnesses  in  Ireland  is  not  of  re- 
cent date  among  those  in  the  English  interest,  Carte  shows 
in  the  case  of  Sir  William  Petty,  who  in  the  early  half  of  the 
seventeenth  century  had  a  law-suit  against  the  Duke  of 
Ormond  and  "bragged  that  he  had  got  witnesses  who  would 
have  sworn  through  a  three-inch  board  to  evict  the  Duke." 
We  have  already  referred  to  the  manner  in  which  witnesses 
were  obtained  for  the  finding  of  the  indictments  for  the 
settling  of  the  Connaught  Plantations  after  1641.  These 
"friends  of  the  Government"  were  always  on  hand  to  testify 
to  the  guilt  of  any  prisoner  who  with  a  semblance  of  legality 
was  convicted  generally  on  false  evidence,  since  no  opposing 
testimony  could  be  offered  without  exposing  to  condemna- 
tion the  witness  as  an  accomplice. 

Toler,  one  of  the  most  active  judges  at  this  time,  who 

172 


Irish  Judges,  **  Friends  of  the  Government"   173 

presided  afterwards  as  Lord  Norbury  on  the  trial  of  Robert 
Emmet,  was  thus  stigmatized  by  O'Connell  in  a  noted 
speech  ' : 

"Why,  in  one  circuit  during  the  administration  of  the  cold- 
hearted  and  cruel  Camden,  there  were  one  hundred  individuals 
tried  before  one  judge ;  of  these  ninety-eight  were  capitally  convicted 
and  ninety-seven  hanged !  One  escape,  but  he  was  a  soldier  who 
murdered  a  peasant,  a  thing  of  trivial  nature.  Ninety-seven 
victims  in  one  circuit!  " 

O'Connell  was  doubtless  familiar  with  the  fact  from  his 
personal  knowledge  but  reference  being  made  at  a  later 
period  it  is  not  improbable  that  his  recollection  as  to  the 
number  of  cases  was  at  fault.  Evidently  the  following  refers 
to  the  same  incident  but  nearly  twice  the  number  is  given. 
This  is  probably  the  correct  version  as  reference  is  made  to  a 
document.  In  The  Sham  Squire,  etc.,  the  following  state- 
ment is  made  of  Toler': 

"  His  relish  for  a  capital  conviction  was  undisguised;  a  docu- 
ment before  us  mentions  the  almost  incredible  fact,  that  at  a 
single  assize,  he  passed  sentence  of  death  on  one  hundred  and 
ninety-eight  individuals,  of  whom  one  hundred  and  ninety-seven 
passed  through  the  hands  of  Galvin,  the  hangman,  &c." 

The  case  which  was  not  convicted  was  a  Lieutenant 
Frazer,  of  the  Scotch  Fencibles,  who  killed  while  drunk  an 
inoffensive  old  man  who  was  engaged  in  some  peaceable 
calling  at  home.     It  is  thus  described  by  Lecky  ^ : 

"  The  coroner's  inquest  returned  a  verdict  of  wilful  murder, 
but  the  military  authorities  refused  to  give  up  the  culprit.  The 
magistrate  was  driven  back  by  force  and  the  government  refused 
to  interfere.  At  last,  when  the  scandal  became  very  grave,  the 
officer  marched  into  Athy  with  a  band  playing  before  him  and 

'  Memoirs  and  Speeches  of  D.  G' Coniiell,  vol.  i.,  p.  498. 
'  The  Shafn  Squire  and  the  Informers  of  ijg8,  etc.,  third  edition,  Dublin, 
1866,  p.  208. 

^  Vol.  iv.,  p.  222,  and  Lord  Cloncurry's  Personal  Recollections,  pp.  49-51. 


174  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

gave  himself  up  for  trial.  Toler,  the  Solicitor-General,  was  then 
acting  as  Judge  of  Assize,  and  in  a  charge,  which  appears  to  have 
been  abundantly  garnished  with  the  judicial  buffoonery  for  which 
as  Lord  Norbury  he  was  afterwards  so  notorious,  he  directed  the 
jury  to  acquit  the  prisoner  on  the  ground  that — '  he  was  a  gallant 
officer,  who  had  only  made  a  mistake!  '  " 

Such  scenes  were  of  frequent  occurrence  but  fortunately 
for  the  country  there  were  a  few  just  men  on  the  bench  like 
Wolffe,  afterwards  Lord  Kilwarden,  who  openly  denounced 
the  public  scandal  which  existed  but  of  which  the  Govern- 
ment took  no  cognizance.' 

It  has  been  openly  acknowledged  in  Parliament,  as  shown 
in  the  Appendix,  that  jury  packing  in  Ireland  has  been 
regularly  practised  in  the  past  and  that  the  Government  will 
sanction  the  packing  of  any  jury  in  the  future,  whenever  it 
is  considered  desirable  to  control  a  verdict. 

This  procedure  is  only  resorted  to  against  the  Catholics; 
consequently  justice  in  Ireland  for  three-fourths  of  the  peo- 
ple is  rendered  to-day  on  the  same  religious  basis  as  of  old. 
For  the  carrying  out  of  this  policy  false  testimony,  or  per- 
jury, is  an  essential  and  no  one  can  truthfully  deny  that  it 
is  not  employed. 

In  the  past,  as  already  stated,  honest  men  did  sometimes 
get  upon  the  wool-rack  in  Ireland  and  were  just,  notwith- 
standing their  English  predilection.  A  statement  made  by 
Michael  Davitt  in  a  recent  public  speech  shows  that  these 
are  still  exceptional. 

The  English  version  of  Irish  history  teaches  one  fact,  that 
for  political  services  England  has  rewarded  no  one  in  late 
years  by  a  position  on  the  bench  in  Ireland  whose  honesty 
was  above  suspicion.  Political  service  to  the  Government  in 
Ireland  from  a  lawyer  always  means  some  disreputable  work 
which  no  honest  man  would  undertake  and  a  change  in 
nature,  after  reaching  the  bench,  is  as  unreasonable  an  ex- 
pectation as  that  a  tiger  should  change  his  stripes. 

'  Lord  Kilwarden  subsequently  lost  his  life,  in  consequence  of  mistaken 
identity,  from  the  violence  of  an  exasperated  mob  in  the  streets  of  Dublin. 


Orange  Intolerance  ;  Catholic  Tolerance  1 75 

Mr.  Davitt's  statement  is: 

"  Our  judges  are  all,  without  a  single  exception,  men  nomin- 
ated to  the  Irish  bench  for  political  work  done  in  their  day  as 
lawyers  against  the  predominant  popular  feeling  of  Ireland,  in 
hostility  to  the  national  sentiment  of  the  country. ' ' 

From  one  who  has  personally  suffered  as  Mr.  Davitt,  his 
statement  of  the  condition  is  presented  in  very  moderate 
terms. 

For  the  past  two  hundred  years  the  question  of  religion 
has  never  been  raised  in  the  Catholic  portion  of  Ireland  and 
is  a  dead  issue  between  individuals  and  in  local  politics.  If 
any  discrimination  has  been  exercised  by  the  Catholics  it 
was  only  against  those  of  their  own  faith.  A  Protestant  of 
fair  dealing  in  Ireland  who  in  any  way  identifies  himself  with 
the  interest  of  his  neighborhood  has  always  been  respected 
in  a  Catholic  community  and  trusted  by  the  people  with 
the  management  of  their  affairs.  No  better  proof  of  this 
can  be  advanced  than  the  large  proportion  of  Protestants  to 
Catholics  existing  among  the  Irish  members  of  Parliament 
who  have  represented  the  Catholic  portion  of  Ireland. 

We  learn  from  Fox  ' : 

"  But  do  not  the  facts  of  every  day  life  in  Ireland  forbid  the 
thought  of  intolerance  on  the  part  of  the  Irish  Roman  Catholics  ? 
Apart  from  any  mere  polemical  controversy  on  the  subject,  per- 
secution for  conscience  sake,  of  which  they  have  themselves  had 
such  bitter  experience,  is  a  very  powerful  teacher  of  religious 
toleration.  The  Irish  Roman  Catholic  constituencies  have  in 
numerous  instances  returned  Protestant  representatives,  with  and 
without  the  protection  of  the  ballot,  and  it  may  be  said  with  con- 
fidence that  to  reject  such  a  candidate  on  account  of  his  religious 
beliefs  when  acceptable  in  all  other  respects,  is  a  thing  unknown 
in  Ireland. 

"In  the  general  election  of  1832,  thirty-three  Catholic  constitu- 
encies used  their  new-born  power  to  return  at  the  polls  forty-three 

*  Why  Ireland  Wants  Home  Rule,  etc.,  by  J.  A.  Fox,  London,  sixth  edition, 
p.  164. 


176  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

Protestant  members  of  Parliament.  In  the  election  of  1848, 
after  the  cruel  pangs  of  famine,  Catholic  constituencies  again 
sent  over  forty  non-Catholic  representatives  to  Parliament.  At 
the  general  election  of  1868,  thirty-three  Protestant  members  were 
elected  by  the  Catholic  majorities.  Coming  down  to  1874,  when 
the  political  question  of  Home  Rule  began  to  develop,  the  num- 
ber of  non-Catholics  decreased;  but  every  Protestant  who  adopted 
the  national  demand  was  received  with  open  arms,  and  twenty- 
eight  non-Catholic  members  represented  Catholic  constituencies 
in  the  Parliament  of  1874.  And  the  same  thing  occurred  in  the 
Parliaments  of  1880-84-85-86. 

"  Mr.  Charles  Dawson,  ex-member  of  Parliament,  in  the  course 
of  a  very  instructive  lecture  on  this  subject,  observes: 

"  '  In  pursuing  this  question  of  Parliament  representation,  I 
must  be  clear  on  one  point.  I  don't  think  toleration  requires 
that  to  represent  a  purely  political  opinion  political  opponents 
should  be  sent  to  Parliament.  As  well  ask  the  supporters  of 
Lord  Salisbury  to  vote  for  Radicals,  or  those  of  Mr.  Gladstone  to 
vote  for  Tories,  as  to  ask  the  Irish  people  to  send  to  represent 
their  political  views  men  who  would  vote  directly  against  them. ' 

"  And  Mr.  Charles  Dawson  proceeds  to  ask  a  question  which  it 
must  be  confessed  is  rather  an  awkward  one  for  us  here  at  home: 

"  '  But  if  Mr.  Chamberlain  will  throw  the  stone  of  "  persecu- 
tion "  and  exclusion  of  the  "  minority  "  at  the  Irish  people,  what 
has  he  to  say  of  his  own  country  ?  It  has  had  all  the  opportuni- 
ties, and  more,  than  Catholic  Ireland  has  had,  of  being  tolerant 
to  minorities.  How  did  his  country  exercise  it  ?  How  many 
Catholic  members  of  Parliament  did  the  English  constituencies 
elect  ?  How  many  Catholic  mayors  or  sheriffs  did  English  cor- 
porations appoint  ?  How  many  well  paid  ofificers  ?  When  I  was 
in  Parliament,  during  five  years,  out  of  over  five  hundred  mem- 
bers from  England  and  Scotland,  there  was  but  one  Catholic'  " 

We  need  not  dwell  on  the  condition  of  discord  and  intol- 
erance existing  wherever  Orangemen  in  Ireland  are  in  the 
majority.  A  Catholic  has  never  filled  the  most  insignificant 
position  in  Belfast  since  the  Orangemen  have  been  in  the 
ascendancy  there,  while  it  has  been  the  only  city  in  Ireland 
where  riots  have  been  of  frequent  occurrence;  and  usually 


Orangemen  not  Famous  as  Fighters     177 

these  have  had  their  beginning  in  attacks  made  upon  the 
Catholics. 

The  "Rebellion"  of  1798  did  not  commence  until  after  the 
arrest  of  the  leaders  in  March  of  that  year.  During  that 
year  an  open  conflict  existed  between  the  people  and  the 
Government  which  was  a  death  struggle  on  the  part  of  the 
people  to  gain  liberty.  Since  the  beginning  of  Lord  Cam- 
den's administration,  several  years  before,  the  country  had 
been  in  a  chronic  state  of  turmoil  and  was  overrun  with 
foreign  troops  who  were  guided  and  influenced  by  the 
Orangemen  to  commit  every  conceivable  crime  and  torture. 
They  thus  hoped  to  force,  as  we  have  stated,  an  outbreak, 
in  which  the  Government  was  the  instigator,  and  it  was 
the  first  step  made  by  Pitt  to  bring  about  the  "Union" 
with  England.  Yet  the  Orangemen  proved  of  little  value 
for  frighting  purposes  and  had  in  no  respect  improved  upon 
their  ancestors  who  came  first  into  notice  from  being  fright- 
ened by  the  Irish  troops  at  the  battle  of  the  Boyne,  where 
they  deserted  William  and  left  him  to  fight  and  gain  the 
battle  with  his  own  Dutch  and  Huguenot  followers.  Eng- 
lish versions  do  not  dwell  particularly  on  this  fact,  so  that, 
possibly  through  ignorance,  Orangemen  have  since  regularly 
celebrated  the  anniversary  of  the  cowardly  rout  of  their 
ancestors  on  that  occasion.*     History  has  failed  to  record 

'  Many  of  the  Orangemen  of  the  present  day  doubtless  boast  of  their  ances- 
tors who  were  among  the  famous  "  Enniskilleners  "  at  the  battle  of  the  Boyne. 
This  body  from  the  north  of  Ireland  had  already  established  an  unenviable 
reputation  for  the  brutal  slaughter  of  all  their  opposing  and  unarmed  country- 
men who  happened  to  come  within  their  power.  At  the  battle  of  the  Boyne 
they  crossed  the  river,  with  William  of  Orange  leading  them  in  person.  The 
Irish  cavalry  of  Garney,  recognizing  the  advancing  troops,  began  a  charge  to  op- 
pose them  and  with  apparently  so  determined  a  purpose  that  the  Enniskilleners 
deserted  their  leader,  in  a  most  ignominious  flight,  long  before  their  opponents 
had  come  within  striking  distance.  Taylor  states  (vol.  ii.,  p.  151,  History  of 
Ireland,  etc.,  by  W.  C.  Taylor,  with  additions  by  Wm.  Sampson,  Esq.,  New 
York,  1833):  "Their  apologists  say  that  they  misunderstood  their  orders, 
and  returned  again.  However  this  may  be,  it  is  certain  that  William  ever 
after  viewed  this  part  of  his  force  with  contempt,  not  unmingled  with  hatred." 
See  also  The  Battle-Fields  of  Ireland,  etc.,  John  Boyle,  fourth  edition,  New 
York,  1879,  P-  ^44- 


VOL.  I.  — 12. 


178  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

a  single  instance  where  these  pets  of  the  English  Govern- 
ment were  ever  successful  in  a  hand-to-hand  contest  with 
their  despised  countrymen  unless  they  greatly  outnumbered 
their  adversaries  or  were  supported  by  the  regular  troops. 
Some  allowance,  however,  may  in  justice  be  due  them  be- 
cause the  pike  of  the  United  Irishmen  proved  in  1798  a  most 
formidable  weapon.  History  has  not  given  full  credit  to  the 
efforts  of  the  Irish  people  in  that  desperate  struggle,  where 
even  England's  best  troops  suffered  many  a  defeat  when 
fairly  matched  as  to  numbers  and  not  supported  by  cavalry 
and  artillery,  which  the  United  Irishmen  did  not  have  to 
aid  them.  Had  England  relied  upon  her  infantry  her  troops 
would  have  been  defeated  even  with  the  advantage  of  fire- 
arms. In  truth  it  may  be  stated  that  the  British  bayonet  in 
this  struggle  was  employed  chiefly  for  killing  women  and 
children. 

While  it  cannot  be  claimed  that  these  Orangemen  were 
ever  hard  fighters  they  proved  a  great  success  in  bringing 
about  Pitt's  purpose  by  exasperating  the  people  to  open 
resistance.  They  seemed  altogether  to  have  been  a  jovial 
set  and  noted  for  their  hard  drinking,  yet  as  they  did  little 
actual  fighting  and  as  there  was  a  limit  of  material  in  every 
neighborhood  for  their  marauding,  possibly  killing  time  as 
well  as  unarmed  Irish  became  an  object.  Hence  they  all 
were  experts  in  devising  for  their  amusement  every  form  of 
torture,  through  means  of  the  pitch-cap,  half-hanging,  etc., 
and  depriving  defenceless  persons  of  life  —  all  of  which 
seemed,  as  so  many  different  forms  of  recreation,  to  have 
afforded  them  intense  pleasure  and  gratification. 

The  following  description  of  the  condition  existing  in 
1798  was  written  by  Mr.  Sampson,  a  reliable  witness;  and 

William's  subsequent  persecution  of  the  Irish  Catholics  was  to  be  expected. 
But  his  hatred  of  Irish  Protestants  as  well  cannot  be  explained,  unless  the  in- 
cident of  being  deserted  at  the  battle  of  the  Boyne  by  the  Enniskilleners  and 
his  narrow  escape  from  being  captured  led  to  the  destruction  through  his  in- 
fluence shortly  after,  as  will  be  shown,  of  the  great  industries  of  Ulster  which 
were  almost  entirely  in  the  hands  of  Protestants  who  were  in  sympathy  with 
his  Government. 


Orange  Pastimes  in  1798  179 

what  he  states  of  Dublin  would  have  been  as  applicable  to 
any  body  of  Orangemen  stationed  in  any  other  part  of  the 
country.  Mr.  Sampson,  knowing  he  was  under  suspicion, 
wrote  to  the  authorities  offering  to  surrender  himself  on  the 
promise  of  receiving  a  trial  * : 

"  No  answer  being  given,  I  remained  in  Dublin  until  the  i6th 
of  April,  when  the  terror  became  so  atrocious  that  humanity- 
could  no  longer  endure  it.  In  every  quarter  of  the  metropolis, 
the  shrieks  and  groans  of  the  tortured  were  to  be  heard,  and  that 
through  all  hours  of  the  day  and  night.  Men  were  taken  at  ran- 
dom without  process  or  accusation,  and  tortured  at  the  pleasure 
of  the  lowest  dregs  of  the  community.  Bloody  theatres  were 
opened  by  these  self-constituted  inquisitors,  and  new  and  un- 
heard of  machines  were  invented  for  their  diabolical  purpose." 

Then  follows  in  a  note : 

"  The  tortures  administered  by  the  dominant  party  during  the 
'  Irish  reign  of  terror '  cannot  be  surpassed,  perhaps  not  paral- 
leled, in  the  annals  of  human  suffering  and  crime.  The  torture 
of  the  lash  was  daily  practiced  at  J.  C.  Beresford's  Riding 
School,  the  Castle  yard,  the  old  custom-house,  and  the  several 
military  depots,  on  all  who  were  'suspected  of  being  suspicious.' 
One  instance  will  suffice  to  show  on  what  groundless  suspicions 
such  cruelties  were  inflicted.  A  youth  named  Bergan  was  flogged 
to  death  for  having  in  his  possession  a  ring,  with  the  national  de- 
vice of  the  shamrock.  The  pitch  cap  was  invented,  it  is  said,  by 
a  noble  lord;  a  paper  cap  lined  with  melted  pitch  was  placed  on 
the  head  of  the  victim,  the  hot  liquid  frequently  streamed  into 
his  eyes,  and  added  blindness  to  his  other  pains,  a  circumstance 
which  always  added  to  the  delight  of  those  who  presided  over  the 
inhuman  sport.  The  cap  was  sometimes  rudely  torn  from  the 
head,  bringing  with  it  hair  and  skin ;  at  other  times  fire  was  com- 
municated to  the  paper,  and  the  wretch's  skull  scorched  to  the 
bone.  It  was  no  unusual  spectacle  to  behold  miserable  victims 
smeared  with  pitch  and  gore,  blinded  and  maddened  with  pain, 
running  like  maniacs  through  the  streets  of  Dublin,  followed  by 

'^Memoirs,  etc.,  p.  3.     See  also  Appendix,  note  11. 


i8o  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

noblemen,  magistrates,  and  officers,  who  took  a  fiendish  delight 
in  witnessing  their  agonized  gestures. 

"  Half  hanging  was  a  common  means  of  extorting  confession; 
and  some,  from  long  practice,  had  acquired  such  dexterity  that 
they  could  tell  the  exact  moment  when  the  vital  spark  was  about 
to  flit.  .  .  .  Wives,  children,  parents,  sisters,  were  brought 
to  see  these  tortures  inflicted  on  their  nearest  relatives,  that  out 
of  their  feelings  might  be  extorted  some  denunciation,  true  or 
false,  which  the  virtues  of  the  sufferer  had  withheld.  These  tor- 
tures, it  must  be  remembered,  were  inflicted  not  as  a  punishment 
for  guilt,  but  as  a  means  of  acquiring  information ;  and  it  is  but 
fair  to  presume  that  in  the  great  majority  of  instances  the  victims 
were  innocent." 

Mr.  Sampson  then  resumes  his  narrative : 

"  Unhappily  in  every  country,  history  is  but  the  record  of  black 
crimes ;  but  if  ever  this  history  comes  to  be  fairly  written,  what- 
ever has  yet  been  held  up  to  the  execration  of  mankind,  will  fade 
before  it.  For  it  has  not  happened  before,  in  any  country,  or  in 
any  age,  to  inflict  torture  and  to  offer  bribe  at  the  same  moment. 
In  this  bloody  reign,  the  coward  and  the  traitor  were  sure  of 
wealth  and  power;  the  brave  and  the  loyal  to  suffer  death  or  tor- 
ture. The  very  mansion  of  the  viceroy  was  peopled  with  salaried 
denouncers,  kept  in  secret,  and  led  out  only  for  purposes  of  death.* 
Some  of  them,  struck  with  remorse,  have  since  published  their 
own  crimes,  and  some  have  been  hanged  by  their  employers."  ^ 

'  We  will  hereafter  describe  the  "  Battalion  of  Testimony." 
'Foot-note  from  Sampson,  p.  5  :  "  Hyland,  who  had  been  half  hanged  by 
Heppenstal,  refused  to  give  evidence  against  a  person  named  Kennedy.  He 
was  immediately  removed  from  the  table  to  the  dock,  tried,  convicted  and 
executed.  Neither  did  his  virtue  save  Kennedy — indeed  how  could  it  ?  Nor- 
bury  was  the  Judge  !  The  fate  of  Jemmy  O'Brien  is  known  to  those  that 
have  read  that  valuable  piece  of  Irish  history,  Curran's  Life,  by  his  son  ; 
having  failed  to  convict  his  victims  he  was  disregarded  by  his  employers,  and 
having  killed  an  old  man  for  calling  him  an  informer,  he  was  given  up  to  the 
vengeance  of  the  law.  The  exultation  of  the  mob  when  this  wretch  was 
brought  out  for  execution  was  horrible." 

"  The  most  conspicuous  of  these  executioners  was  Lieutenant  Heppenstal, 
commonly  called  the  walking  gallows  ;  as  from  his  great  size  and  strength  he 
was  enabled  to  inflict  strangulation  by  suspending  the  victim  over  his  shoulder. 


Lashings,  Pitch-Caps  and  Half-Hangings  i8i 

The  pitch-cap  was  an  instrument  of  torture  confined  to 
Enghsh  rule  in  Ireland  and  one  in  the  use  of  which  the  Brit- 
ish troops  and  their  "loyal  friends  "  seemed  to  have  found 
a  never-ending  source  of  enjoyment  and  recreation. 

In  Yi2.Y' s  Insurrection  of  the  County  of  Wexford  ^o.  find  in 
reference  to  the  use  of  the  pitch-cap  the  following : 

"  Any  person  having  his  hair  cut  short,  and  therefore  called  a 
'Croppy'  (by  which  the  soldiery  designated  an  United  Irishman) 
on  being  pointed  out  by  some  loyal  neighbor,  was  immediately 
seized  and  brought  into  the  guard-house,  where  caps  either  of 
linen,  or  strong  brown  paper  besmeared  inside  with  pitch,  were 
always  kept  ready  for  service.  The  unfortunate  victim  had  one 
of  these  well  heated,  compressed  on  his  head,  and  when  judged 
of  proper  coolness  so  that  it  could  not  be  easily  pulled  off,  the 
sufferer  was  turned  out  midst  the  horrid  acclamations  of  the 
merciless  torturers." 

In  the  same  work  the  author  refers  to  the  cruelties  prac- 
tised by  the  body  of  Orangemen  who  served  the  Govern- 
ment as  the  North  Cork  Militia  ' : 

"  .  .  .  one  of  whom  the  noted  Sergeant  nick-named  Tom  the 
devil,  gave  him  a  woeful  experience  of  his  ingenuity  and  adroitness 
at  devising  torments.  As  a  specimen  of  his  savior  fair  e^  he  cut 
off  the  hair  of  his  head  very  closely,  put  the  sign  of  the  cross  from 
the  front  to  the  back  and  transversely  from  ear  to  ear  closer  still ; 
and  probably  a  pitch  cap  not  being  in  readiness,  gunpowder  was 
mixed  through  the  hair,  which  was  then  set  on  fire  and  the  shock- 
ing process  repeated  until  every  atom  of  hair  that  remained  could 
be  pulled  out  by  the  roots;  and  still  a  burning  candle  was  con- 
tinually applied  until  the  entire  hair  was  completely  singed  away 
and  the  head  left  totally  and  miserably  bfistered." 

During  the  '  reign  of  terror '  his  exertions  were  the  theme  of  eulogy,  but  when 
angry  passions  became  cool,  he  was  universally  shunned,  and  driven  to  seek 
refuge  in  the  lowest  dissipation."     (Note,  p.  4.) 

1  The  North  Cork  Militia  was  stationed  in  Dublin  at  the  time  referred  to  by 
Mr.  Sampson  in  his  Memoirs. 


i82  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

The  pitch-cap  of  itself  was  a  fiendish  device  of  torture 
but  it  became  more  barbarous  from  the  temptation  to  set  it 
on  fire,  when  it  was  left  to  burn  until  death  came  to  the  re- 
lief of  the  sufferer  or  until  some  humane  person  had  the 
opportunity  of  extinguishing  it.  Instances  of  the  use  of  the 
pitch-cap,  and  where  it  was  set  on  fire,  were  by  no  means 
infrequent. 

The  writer  recalls  distinctly  hearing,  when  a  boy,  the  de- 
tails of  one  death  resulting  from  it  which  occurred  in  the 
streets  of  Dublin  and  was  witnessed  by  his  grandmother, 
Mrs.  Emmet.  She  stated  that  a  few  weeks  after  her  hus- 
band's arrest  and  imprisonment  she  heard  a  commotion  in 
the  street  and  on  looking  out  between  the  slats  of  the  closed 
shutter  she  saw  a  young  man  by  the  name  of  Powell,  a  dis- 
tant connection  of  her  own  family,  drop  dead  in  front  of  the 
house.  She  saw  the  pitch  burning  on  his  head  and  down 
the  sides  of  his  neck,  where  it  had  set  fire  to  his  clothing. 
She  learned  that  Mr.  Powell's  offence  consisted  in  wearing 
a  breastpin  in  shape  of  a  shamrock  which  some  drunken 
officer  had  ordered  hyn,  in  an  offensive  manner,  to  remove. 
He  had  refused ;  some  soldiers  were  called,  the  pitch-cap 
was  applied  and  ignited  and  Mr.  Powell  in  consequence 
died  on  his  way  to  prison. 

A  quotation  from  Teeling,  in  corroboration,  is  of  particu- 
lar interest,  as  the  murder  described  by  him  was  committed 
in  Dublin  by  the  same  troops  which  were  stationed  in  that 
city  at  the  time  of  Mrs.  Emmet's  experience. 

Teeling  wrote  from  personal  observation  and  states ' : 

"  In  the  centre  of  the  city  the  heart-rending  exhibition  was  pre- 
sented of  a  human  being,  endowed  with  all  the  faculties  of  a 
rational  soul  rushing  from  the  infernal  depot  of  torture  and  death, 
his  person  besmeared  with  a  burning  preparation  of  turpentine 
and  pitch,  plunging  in  his  distraction  into  the  River  Liffey  and 
terminating  at  once  his  suffering  and  his  life." 

'  Personal  Narrative  of  the  Irish  Rebellion  of  lygS,  by  Charles  Hamilton 
Teeling,  London,  1828,  pp.  132-134. 


Orangemen,  "Men  without  a  Country  "  183 

It  may  be  held,  with  some  truth,  that  the  greater  portion 
of  the  atrocities  practised  on  the  Catholics  in  Ireland  since 
the  beginning  of  the  reign  of  William  and  Mary  were  per- 
petrated by  the  so-called  yeomanry,  or  Orangemen,  of  the 
country.  But  this  fact  cannot  lessen  in  the  slightest  degree 
the  blame  and  responsibility  resting  upon  the  British  Gov- 
ernment. It  has  maintained  in  the  past  its  grasp  on  the 
country  chiefly  by  fostering  a  feeling  of  religious  intolerance 
and  it  encouraged  the  followers  of  William  of  Orange  and 
their  descendants,  the  Orangemen,  under  the  guise  of  "Pro- 
testant Ascendancy,"  to  keep  the  country  for  over  two  hun- 
dred years  in  turmoil.' 

The  members  of  this  body,  devoid  of  all  charity  from  the 
light  of  Christian  precept,  have  under  the  cloak  of  religion 
fattened  on  the  land  to  the  present  day  like  so  many  para- 
sites, possessing  nothing  in  common  with  Ireland  nor  with 
the  greater  portion  of  the  Irish  people,  Protestants  or  Catho- 
lics, beyond  the  accident  of  birth.  In  Ireland  Orangemen 
have  no  identification  with  the  interests  of  the  country  be- 
yond holding  together  the  plunder  acquired  by  their  ances- 
tors and  their  own  gains  from  a  favored  prosperity.  In 
truth  the  well-doing  of  the  Irish  people  and  of  the  country 
as  a  whole  has  always  been  in  proportion  to  the  bar  placed 
upon  the  management  of  Irish  affairs  by  Orangemen. 

God  has  seen  fit  in  His  infinite  wisdom  to  let  these  people 
prosper  from  a  pecuniary  standpoint.  But  it  is  a  physio- 
logical law  that  if  the  mind  be  allowed  to  become  narrowed 
in  its  views  and  contracted  to  a  circumscribed  field,  as  with 
these  bigots,  it  cannot  expand  or  develop  in  another  direc- 
tion. Consequently,  since  the  existence  of  Orangemen  in 
Ireland,  as  an  organization,  we  seek  in  vain  for  any  evidence 
of  statesmanship  among  them  in  originating  or  in  advocat- 
ing any  measure  whereby  the  country  as  a  whole  would  be 
benefited.  No  noted  Orangeman,  so  far  as  the  writer  can 
ascertain,  has  excelled  as  a  genius  in  the  arts,  in  literature 

'  This  was  not,  however,  a  new  policy  of  the  Government.  See  Appendix, 
note  12. 


184  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

or  in  any  other  station.  Prominence  among  them  seems  to 
the  outside  world  to  have  been  gained  only  in  money-making 
and  in  their  arrogant  efforts  to  advance  their  own  personal 
interests  under  the  pretence  of  a  "chosen  people." 

Mr.  Lecky,'  referring  to  some  resolutions  printed  and  cir- 
culated by  the  Orangemen  in  May,  1797,  writes: 

"  They  also  declared  that  the  object  of  the  Orange  Association 
was  to  defend  themselves,  their  properties,  the  peace  of  the  coun- 
try, and  the  Protestant  Constitution,  and  they  solemnly  and 
authoritatively  denied  that  they  had  sworn  to  extirpate  the 
Catholics  :  '  The  loyal,  well-behaved  man,'  they  said,  *  let  his 
religion  be  what  it  may,  need  fear  no  injury  from  us,'  etc. 

"  It  was  obvious  that  a  society  of  this  kind  was  very  different 
from  the  tumultuous  rabble  which  has  been  described  and  a  book 
of  rules  and  regulations  was  drawn  up  and  circulated  among  the 
Orangemen,  which  clearly  showed  the  desire  of  its  leaders  to  give 
the  society  a  character  not  only  of  legality,  but  of  high  moral  ex- 
cellence. Every  Orangeman,  it  was  said,  was  expected  to  have 
a  sincere  love  and  veneration  for  his  Maker,  and  a  firm  belief  in 
the  sole  mediatorship  of  Christ.  He  must  be  humane  and  court- 
eous, an  enemy  of  all  brutality  and  cruelty,  zealous  to  promote 
the  honour  of  his  King  and  country.  He  must  abstain  from 
cursing,  swearing  and  intemperance,  and  he  must  carefully  ob- 
serve the  Sabbath.  The  society  was  exclusively  Protestant,  and 
it  was  based  upon  the  idea  of  Protestant  ascendency,  but  it  was 
intended  also  to  be  actively  loyal,  and  to  combat  the  forces  of 
atheism  and  anarchy.  Like  the  Freemasons,  the  Orangemen  had 
secret  signs  and  pass-words,  but  the  only  object  of  these  was  to 
prevent  traitors  from  mixing  with  them  in  order  to  betray  them, 
and  also  to  recommend  each  Orangeman  to  the  attention  and 
kindness  of  his  brethren." 

And  Lecky  directs  the  reader  to  see  ' '  TJic  Principles  of  the 
Orange  Assoeiation  Vindicated,  by  the  Rev.  S.  Cupples, 
Rector  of  Lisburn  (1799)." 

It  is  true  that  the  Orangemen  are  and  have  all  been  nom- 
inal Protestants  at  least  and  that  one  of  the  alleged  objects 

'  Vol.  iv.,  p.  54. 


England  Responsible  for  Orange  Cruelty  185 

of  the  organization  was  to  secure  Protestant  ascendancy 
but  beyond  these  statements  the  whole  programme  forms  an 
exquisite  piece  of  satire,  which  only  one  subjected  to  Irish 
surroundings  could  have  written.  The  clergy,  it  has  been 
held,  are  more  credulous  than  the  members  of  any  other 
profession,  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Cupples  may  therefore  have 
believed  in  his  "Vindication."  But  that  the  historian, 
trained  to  analyze  the  value  of  the  material  to  which  he  has 
access,  should  consider  such  an  array  of  falsehoods  worthy 
of  a  place  in  a  credible  work  is  beyond  comprehension. 

That  such  rules  and  regulations  may  have  been  written 
by  some  well-meaning  man  will  not  be  questioned.  It  is 
equally  true  that  there  may  have  been  in  the  organization, 
as  honorary  members  advanced  in  years,  some  who  in  pri- 
vate life  honestly  lived  up  to  their  precepts,  as  it  is  claimed. 
But  no  member  who  took  an  active  part  in  the  organization 
could  have  ever  been  influenced  by  them,  since  frequent 
repetition,  from  rape  to  the  torture  of  innocent  persons, 
of  every  crime  which  could  be  perpetrated  by  the  most  law- 
less characters  was  committed  by  the  Orangemen  during  the 
eighteenth  century,  wherever  they  were  stationed ;  the  proof 
of  their  guilt  is  beyond  doubt.  It  does  not  seem  possible 
that  any  one  could  read  even  Lecky's  history  without  being 
convinced  that  these  men  were  not  falsely  charged  with 
these  crimes. 

In  accordance  with  existing  evidence  the  English  Govern- 
ment must  for  all  time  stand  charged  with  originating  the 
Orange  Organization  and  with  having  protected  and  main- 
tained its  members  as  a  political  machine  to  foment  constant 
disorder ;  above  all  as  an  accessory  to  and  often  the  instiga- 
tor, through  its  officials  in  Ireland,  of  the  frightful  crimes 
committed  by  this  body. 

The  responsibility  of  this  charge  is  fully  appreciated.  If 
there  were  no  other  proof  it  is  enough  to  state  that,  had  the 
English  Government  not  fully  approved  of  the  course  pur- 
sued by  these  men,  from  the  time  of  the  first  atrocity  com- 
mitted to  their  latest  outrage  in  Belfast  or  elsewhere  on  the 


1 86  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

public  peace,  they  would  have  been  suppressed.  This 
charge  is  unanswerable,  as  the  name  of  every  member  of  an 
Orange  Lodge  with  the  time  and  place  of  meeting  were  al- 
ways within  reach  of  the  authorities  and  at  no  time  were  they 
in  ignorance  of  the  proceedings  of  these  societies.  On  the 
other  hand,  let  us  suppose  the  existence  of  a  Catholic 
political  organization,  having  the  same  intent  against  the 
Protestants  and  with  so  little  regard  for  the  law  of  the  land, 
can  any  one  doubt  that  the  Government  would  have  failed 
in  annihilating  at  the  very  beginning  the  whole  association, 
individually  and  collectively? 

The  fact  stands  that  in  every  riot  or  disturbance  in  Ulster 
or  wherever  the  Orangemen  have  been  in  the  ascendancy, 
the  provocation  has  always  been  given  by  these  men,  while 
such  scenes  are  unknown  in  the  Catholic  sections' ;  and  not 
only  are  the  local  authorities  and  the  magistrates  in  full 
sympathy  with  the  Orangemen  but  the  police  and  soldiers 
have  been  made  to  assume  the  same  position. 

Year  after  year  the  same  scenes  of  disorder  are  perpe- 
trated, with  no  precaution  taken  until  recently  to  prevent 
their  repetition,  and  no  honest  effort  is  ever  made  to 
punish  the  instigators.  But  the  police  appear  after  the 
outrage  has  been  committed  in  time  to  arrest  the  injured 
Catholic ;  those  who  acted  on  the  defensive  are  charged 
and  punished  as  if  they  had  been  the  aggressors.  In  every 
disturbance  which  has  come  within  the  knowledge  of  the 
writer  the  Orangemen  have  been  the  aggressors  and,  where 
they  have  been  defeated,  the  police  and  soldiers  have  invari- 
ably taken  up  the  cudgel  in  defence  of  their  friends  and 
have  punished  the  Catholics. 

In  the  past  it  has  made  little  difference  which  English 
political  party  has  been  in  power  because  the  Orangemen, 
except  for  a  short  time  during  Gladstone's  administration, 
have  been  equally  secure  of  protection  earned  from  a  Gov- 
ernment with  which  they  have  had  so  much  in  common. 

Orangemen  have  always  constituted  so  small  a  propor- 

'  See  Appendix,  note  13. 


Orangemen  of  No  Importance  To-Day  187 

tion  of  the  Protestant  population  of  Ireland,  which  on  the 
whole  are  not  intolerant  of  the  Catholic  portion,  that  the 
fact  needs  some  explanation  why  they  should  exercise 
such  a  powerful  political  influence.  Honest  and  fair- 
minded  men,  who  were  above  reproach  in  private  life,  have 
with  honor  led  the  different  political  parties  in  England 
and  yet,  while  possessing  nothing  in  common  with  the 
tenets  held  by  the  Orangemen,  they  have  not  dared  institute 
any  measure  for  the  benefit  of  Ireland  at  large  without  the 
approval  of  this  disreputable  organization.  In  the  few  in- 
stances where  the  attempt  has  been  made  failure  has  resulted 
and  Ireland  has  only  been  benefited  when  the  Irish  people 
have  been  so  united  in  a  demand  for  justice  that  their 
enemies  dared  not  risk  the  consequences  of  a  refusal. 

From  an  historical  standpoint  the  Orangeman  of  the  pre- 
sent day  is  unworthy  of  special  consideration  since  if  he 
wished  to  be  honest  an  investigation  on  his  part  would  show 
that  his  organization  originated  in  religious  prejudice,  based 
upon  false  charges  against  his  Catholic  neighbor,  and  its 
continuance  has  been  due  to  want  of  Christian  charity  alone. 
Owing  to  the  weakness  of  human  nature  his  development 
and  prosperity  were  a  natural  growth  responsive  to  the  fos- 
tering care  of  the  Government.  That  he  should  be  wanting 
in  the  manly  attributes  of  a  healthy  moral  development  and 
that  he  is  naturally  a  cowardly  bully  is  due  to  a  guilty  con- 
science, together  with  a  knowledge  of  the  deeds  done  by  his 
forefathers — and  so  we  leave  him. 


CHAPTER   XI 

GOVERNMENT  SPIES  AND  INFORMERS  ACTIVE  AMONG  THE 
LEADERS  OF  1798  IN  ROUSING  THE  PEOPLE  TO  RE- 
SISTANCE— THE  GOVERNMENT  RESPONSIBLE  FOR  LOSS 
OF  LIFE,  PROPERTY  AND  EXCESSIVE  SUFFERING  OF 
THE  IRISH  PEOPLE — IRISH  LEADERS  CHIEFLY  PROT- 
ESTANTS — CATHOLICS  TAKE  BUT  LITTLE  PART  EXCEPT 
IN  WEXFORD — SECRET  AGENTS  OF  THE  GOVERNMENT 
PROMISE  CATHOLICS  FREEDOM  OF  WORSHIP  FOR  RE- 
MAINING NEUTRAL — GOVERNMENT  DISREGARDS  ITS 
PROMISES  AND  ALSO  VIOLATES  THE  TERMS  OF  ITS 
TREATY   WITH   THE   LEADERS 

The  evidence  now  obtained  is  conclusive  that,  through- 
out the  entire  existence  of  the  organization  of  the  United 
Irishmen,  the  English  Government  was  in  possession  of 
more  accurate  knowledge  than  any  individual  leader  pos- 
sessed. 

Spies  and  informers  had  wormed  themselves  into  every 
branch  of  the  organization  where,  by  their  apparent  zeal  for 
the  cause,  they  had  gained  the  confidence  of  the  other  mem- 
bers. The  spies  gave  accurate  information  to  the  Govern- 
ment, while  the  informers  made  themselves  familiar  with  the 
habits  of  the  different  individuals  and  obtained  such  knowl- 
edge as  would  enable  them  at  any  time  to  testify,  in  a 
plausible  manner,  to  anything  and  against  any  one  as  the 
Government  might  wish.  The  "devil's  brief"  was  a  species 
of  rascality  peculiar  to  Ireland  and  it  is  only  within  a  com- 
paratively recent  period  that  its  use  has  been  abandoned  or, 
probably,  only  laid  aside. 


The  "Battalion  of  Testimony  "  in  1798    189 

It  is  an  old  custom  in  Ireland  for  the  Government  or  its 
agents  to  arrest  any  one  who  might  be  considered  trouble- 
some or  whenever  it  was  thought  advisable  to  put  such  a 
person  out  of  the  way.  Some  one  familiar  with  the  law  of 
evidence  would  draw  up  a  plausible  charge  and  an  informer, 
properly  trained,  would  be  instructed  as  to  what  he  was  to 
swear  to  at  the  trial.  By  this  procedure  many  innocent  per- 
sons have  lost  their  lives  in  Ireland  and  often  their  property 
as  well ;  to  gain  the  latter  was  frequently  the  incentive  of- 
fered to  the  witness.  Bearing  false  witness  was  certainly 
not  confined  to  England's  methods  in  Ireland  but  the  refined 
degree  of  iniquity  exhibited  almost  appealed  to  the  sense  of 
the  ridiculous  and  credit  at  least  is  due  the  English  for  the 
close  observance  of  "appearances,"  by  means  of  which  pro- 
cedures were  conducted  with  all  outward  propriety.  Dr. 
Madden,  in  his  United  Irishmen,  gives  the  names  of  a  num- 
ber of  informers,  or  rather  false  swearers,  who  were  on  the 
staff  of  Major  Sirr  in  Dublin  during  the  troubles  of  1798,  and 
many  other  such  agents  were  employed  all  over  the  country. 
Several  of  these  men  have  written  their  memoirs,  fully  ex- 
posing the  fact  that  the  Government  had  regularly  main- 
tained the  system. 

Dr.  Madden  also  gives  a  document,  furnished  by  a  cor- 
respondent to  the  Dublin  Press  in  1798,  in  which  it  is  shown 
that  Major  Sirr  at  that  time  had  no  less  than  sixty-one  men 
in  his  employ  who  could  turn  their  hands  to  any  crime  or 
dirty  work  at  his  bidding.     Madden  writes ' : 

"It  appears  by  the  statement  of  this  correspondent,  that  the 
members  of  this  '  battalion  of  testimony '  were  regularly  drilled 
by  Major  Sirr  and  an  officer  of  the  name  of  Fox,  and  instructed 
in  the  act  of  swearing,  deposing,  and  their  other  business  of 
informers  and  fabricators  of  Information." 

By  Madden  and  others  it  is  shown  that  a  certain  number  of 
these  wretches  were  attached,  with  quarters  furnished,  to 

'  United  Irishmen,  vol.  i.,  p.  466. 


iQo  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

every  police  centre.  They  became  experts  with  the  use  of 
the  pitch-cap  and  every  species  of  torture.  When  a  Govern- 
ment official  was  about  "to  present"  not  infrequently  an 
innocent  man  and  it  was  thought  advisable  that  the  "friends 
of  the  Government"  should  not  appear  too  prominent  in 
furnishing  evidence  of  the  prisoner's  guilt,  these  "loyal 
men"  then  proved  most  expert  "in  preparing  witnesses" 
out  of  the  prisoners,  who  became  at  length  willing  to  swear 
to  anything  that  they  might  escape  additional  torture  and 
preserve  their  lives. 

The  names  of  all  those  who  bore  false  witness  at  the  bid- 
ding of  the  representatives  of  the  English  Government  in 
Ireland  have  never  been  published.  But  the  accidental  dis- 
covery a  few  years  since  in  an  ash  heap  of  the  private  record 
kept  of  the  disposition  of  the  secret-service  fund  has  identi- 
fied many.  By  means  of  this  record  it  was  shown  that 
Leonard  McNally,  for  instance  (and  one  instance  will  be 
sufficient  for  all),  a  supposed  reputable  lawyer  in  Dublin, 
who  had  the  full  confidence  of  the  United  Irishmen,  was  a 
spy  in  the  pay  of  the  English  Government  throughout.  This 
man  had  passed  through  the  troubles  of  1798  without,  it 
was  supposed,  having  been  suspected  by  the  Government 
and  he  was  in  consequence  regularly  employed  by  the  United 
Irishmen  to  defend  those  who  were  arrested.  It  is  now 
known  from  the  correspondence  of  Cornwallis  and  from 
other  sources  that  not  only  was  he  a  spy  but  a  traitor  for, 
after  gaining  the  confidence  of  his  clients,  it  was  his  custom 
to  report  to  the  Crown  officers  daily  the  information  thus 
received.  This  monster  was  employed  to  defend  Robert 
Emmet  and  when  the  sentence  of  death  was  passed  he 
threw  his  arms  around  the  prisoner's  neck  to  exhibit  his 
sympathy  and  did  so,  apparently,  regardless  of  conse- 
quences. It  is  now  known,  from  the  secret-service  record, 
that  he"  obtained  a  check  for  one  thousand  pounds  from  the 
Government  for  that  day's  work,  with  many  other  sums 
previously,  and  that  he  had  a  pension  until  his  death  in 
1820 — going  to  his  grave,  above  suspicion,  as  an  honest  man ! 


Leaders  Arrested  to  Force  an  Outbreak    191 

These  informers  who  had  become  apparently  identified 
with  the  United  Irishmen  acted  entirely  under  the  direction 
of  the  Government  and  they  were  in  a  position  to  extend 
the  movement  or  to  bring  it  to  an  outbreak,  as  they  were 
instructed  and  at  such  time  as  the  Government  wished/ 

Newenham  held  the  same  opinion  " : 

"To  afifirm  that  the  Government  of  Ireland  facilitated  the 
growth  of  rebellion,  for  the  purpose  of  affecting  the  Union,  would 
be  to  hold  language  not  perhaps  sufficiently  warranted  by  facts. 
But  to  affirm  that  the  rebellion  was  kept  alive  for  that  purpose, 
seems  perfectly  warrantable.  The  charge  was  boldly  made,  in  the 
writer's  hearing,  during  one  of  the  debates  on  the  Union,  by  an 
honorable  gentleman  who  held  a  profitable  place  under  the  crown. 
And  to  affirm,  that  that  measure  never  would  have  been  carried 
into  effect,  without  the  occurrence  of  a  rebellion,  similar  in  re- 
spect of  its  attendant  and  previous  circumstances,  to  that  of  1798, 
is  to  advance  what  nineteen  in  twenty  men  who  were  acquainted 
with  the  political  sentiments  of  the  Irish  people,  at  that  time,  will 
feel  little  difficulty  in  assenting  to. 

"The  explosion,  which  was  now  expected  by  all,  was  fortu- 
nately accelerated  by  government  j  perhaps  under  an  apprehension 
of  its  becoming  extensive  if  longer  delayed.  But  however  fortu- 
nate this  step,  with  reference  to  the  preservation  of  the  existing 
establishments,  the  precipitate,  rigorous  0x16.  indeed  cruel  expedients 
which  were  resorted  to  in  order  to  hurry  the  rebellion  prematurely 
into  action,  can  never  be  sufficiently  deplored;  inasmuch  as  they 
served  to  occasion,  or  sanction  those  ferocious  retaliations,  on 
the  part  of  the  rebels,  which  have  cast  an  almost  indelible  stain 
on  the  Irish  character;  and  can  scarcely  be  recollected,  by  the 
kindred  or  friends  of  the  sufferers,  without  the  strongest  sensa- 
tions of  abhorrence,  and  a  total  alienation  from  those  Avhom  it 
might  be  their  duty  and  interest  to  protect  and  conciliate." 

'  This  subject  will  be  again  considered  in  a  subsequent  chapter. 

''P.  269.  He  also  gives  the  following  note:  "  Many  loyal  inhabitants  of 
the  City  of  Cork  are  prepared  to  affirm  that  notorious  rebels,  men  who  be- 
longed to  a  committee  of  assassination,  were  liberated  without  prosecution  and 
suffered  to  remain  at  large."  These  men  were  doubtless  the  spies  and  in- 
formers of  the  Government. 


192  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

While  this  author  writes  from  honest  conviction  and  with 
the  evident  desire  to  be  just  he  blindly  falls  into  the  error 
coinmitted  by  all  those  of  English  sympathy — a  confusion 
of  cause  and  effect.  If  it  were  possible  to  have  wiped  out 
every  other  provocation  the  remaining  one  given  by  the 
English  troops  to  the  women  of  Ireland  in  [798  had  to  be 
atoned  from  an  Irish  standpoint ;  it  was  not  within  the 
power  of  the  fathers,  husbands  and  brothers  of  these  wo- 
men to  have  inflicted,  by  any  human  means,  a  more  just 
punishment  in  retaliation. 

Plowden  states ' : 

"Although  the  Government  had  been  long  in  possession, 
through  the  communications  of  Reynolds,  Armstrong  and  other 
informers,  of  all  the  particulars  of  the  conspiracy,  they  had  hitherto 
permitted  or  encouraged  its  progress,  in  order,  as  it  has  been  alleged, 
that  the  suppression  of  it  might  be  affected  with  more  eclat  and  terror. 
As  the  expected  explosion  however  now  drew  so  near,  it  was 
found  to  be  necessary  to  arrest  several  of  the  principal  con- 
spirators, who  might  give  directions,  energy  and  effect  to  the 
insurrection." 

On  the  information  given  by  Reynolds  or  Samuel  Turner 
thirteen  delegates  from  Leinster  were  arrested  at  the  house 
of  Oliver  Bond  in  Dublin  on  March  12,  1798,  and  on  the 
same  day  Messrs.  T.  A.  Emmet,  McNeven,  Bond,  Sweet- 
man,  Henry  and  Hugh  Jackson  were  arrested  elsewhere. 
Warrants  were  issued  also  for  the  taking  of  Lord  Edward 
Fitzgerald,  with  Messrs.  McCormack  and  Sampson,  but  they 
managed  to  escape.  Lord  Edward  remained  in  Dublin 
and  was  able  to  avoid  arrest  until  the  19th  day  of  May, 
when  he  was  taken  by  surprise,  was  wounded  and  died  in 
consequence  a  few  days  later.  From  tJie  papers  said  to  have 
been  found  in  the  houses  of  some  of  these  leaders  the  Govern- 
ment pretended  to  have  obtained  the  first  knowledge  of  the 
intended  insurrection  I 

Messrs.  Arthur  O'Connor,  Thos.  Addis  Emmet  and  Dr. 

'  Vol.  iv.,  p.  317. 


' '  United  Irishmen ' '  Treat  with  Government  1 93 

McNeven  formed  the  Directory  of  the  United  Irishmen  at 
the  time  of  their  arrest.  In  the  treaty  made  with  the 
Anglo-Irish  Government,  to  check  the  massacres  which 
were  going  on  all  over  the  country,  these  gentlemen  stated : 
* '  IV^  can  aver  that  no  insurrection  existed  before  the  12th  of 
March,  lygS/' — The  day  on  which  the  leaders  were  arrested  ! 

The  United  Irishmen  were  organized  by  means  of  secret 
societies  to  obtain  redress  of  grievances  but  the  testimony 
goes  to  show  that  a  resort  to  arms  had  not  been  determined 
upon  or  generally  contemplated ;  and  in  any  case  only  as  a 
last  resort  when  aid  was  to  be  expected  from  France. 

Mr.  O'Connor,  a  Protestant,  was  arrested  first,  and  his 
examination  on  this  point  is  taken  from  the  official  report 
as  published : 

*' Committee.  If  you  did  not  organize  for  the  purpose  of  effect- 
ing a  revolution,  what  other  object  had  you  in  view  ? 

''O'Connor.  We  saw  with  sorrow  the  cruelties  practiced  by  the 
Irish  Government  had  raised  a  dreadful  spirit  of  revenge  in  the 
hearts  of  the  people;  we  saw  with  horror  that  to  answer  their 
immediate  views,  the  Irish  Government  had  renewed  the  old  re- 
ligious feuds;  we  were  most  anxious  to  have  such  authorities  as 
the  organization  ready  constituted  to  prevent  the  dreadful  trans- 
ports of  popular  fury.  We  hoped  that  by  having  committees,  by 
holding  out  the  benefits  of  the  revolution  to  those  who  supported 
it,  and  by  withholding  its  benefits  from  those  who  should  disgrace 
it  by  popular  excesses,  we  should  have  been  able  to  restrain  the 
people.  But  those  who  had  monopolized  the  whole  political 
power  of  the  constitution,  finding  that  they  stood  in  need  of  some 
of  the  population,  and  that  from  their  monopoly  so  directly  oppo- 
site to  the  interests  of  all  classes  of  the  Irish  nation,  they  could 
not  hope  for  the  support  of  any,  be  their  religion  what  it  may,  on 
the  score  of  politics,  except  those  in  the  pay  of  the  Government. 
Finding  how  necessary  it  was  to  have  some  part  of  the  population 
on  their  side,  they  had  recourse  to  the  old  religious  feuds,  and  set 
an  organization  of  Protestants  (the  Orangemen),  whose  fanaticism 
would  not  permit  them  to  see  they  were  enlisted  under  the  ban- 
ners of  religion,  to  fight  for  the  political  usurpation  they  abhorred. 

VOL.  I. — 13. 


194  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

No  doubt  by  these  means  you  have  gained  a  temporary  aid,  but 
by  destroying  the  organization  of  the  Union  (the  United  Irish- 
men) and  exasperating  the  great  body  of  the  people,  you  will  one 
day  pay  dearly  for  the  aid  you  have  derived  from  this  temporary 
shift. 

''Committee.  Government  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  Orange 
system,  nor  their  extermination. 

''O'Connor.  You,  my  Lord  (Castlereagh),  from  the  station  you 
fill,  must  be  sensible  that  the  executive  of  any  country  has  it  in 
its  power  to  collect  a  vast  mass  of  information,  and  you  must 
know  from  the  secret  nature,  and  zeal  of  the  Union,  that  its  ex- 
ecutive must  have  the  most  minute  information  of  every  act  of 
the  Irish  Government.  As  one  of  the  executive,  it  came  to  my 
knowledge,  that  considerable  sums  of  money  were  expended 
throughout  the  nation,  in  endeavoring  to  exte?id  the  Orange-system., 
and  that  the  oath  of  extermination  was  administered  j  when  these 
facts  are  coupled,  not  only  with  general  impunity,  which  has  be- 
come uniformly  extended  towards  the  acts  of  this  infernal  associ- 
ation, but  the  marked  encouragement  its  members  have  received 
from  the  Government,  I  find  it  impossible  to  exculpate  the  Govern- 
ment y^^wi  being  parent  and  protector  of  these  sworn  extirpators  !  " 

This  testimony  establishes  several  important  points.  It 
shows  that  a  resort  to  arms  had  not  been  decided  on  at  the 
time  of  the  arrest  of  the  leaders  and  additional  evidence  will 
be  offered  to  prove  this.  As  an  open  issue  at  arms  had  not 
been  determined  on  it  is  evident  that  there  would  have  been 
no  rebellion,  if  the  Government  had  not  forced  an  outbreak 
and  maintained  the  resistance  so  long  as  these  suited  its  pur- 
pose. Mr.  O'Connor  charges  the  Government  with  the  de- 
liberate purpose  of  exciting  religious  enmity  throughout 
the  country  in  order  to  exasperate  the  people  and  to  drive 
them  to  desperation  by  the  cruelties  and  torture  practised 
everywhere. 

Castlereagh  in  answer  asserted  that  ' '  the  Government  had 
nothing  to  do  with  the  Orange  system. 

This  he  knew  to  be  untrue,  as  no  man  had  been  more 
active  in  carrying  out  the  wishes  of  the  Government  and 


Orange  Oath  to  Exterminate  Catholics     195 

Mr.  O'Connor  let  him  know  that  he  understood  his  position 
fully.  It  was  generally  charged  that  on  extending  the 
organization  of  the  Orangemen,  under  the  patronage  of  the 
Government,  every  member  was  obliged  to  take  the  oath 
that  he  would  do  all  in  his  power  to  exterminate  the  Catholics.^ 
This  accusation  rested  on  the  sworn  testimony  of  a  number 
of  persons  who  had  been  forced  to  take  the  oath  and  who 
had  heard  it  administered  to  others.  Mr.  O'Connor  stated 
positively  that  the  Government  had  spent  a  large  sum  of 
money  in  extending  this  organization  and  that  the  Governme?it 
was  '*  the  parent  and  protector  of  these  sworn  extirpators.'' 

Castlereagh  occupied  so  high  a  position  in  the  Govern- 
ment and  was  personally  responsible  to  so  great  an  extent 
that,  if  it  had  been  possible  to  meet  these  public  charges 
of  Mr.  O'Connor  with  a  denial,  he  would  have  made  the 
effort  but  he  knew  that  they  were  true  and  that  in  case  of 
denial  Mr.  O'Connor  would  have  given  his  proof;  so  he 
remained  silent. 

The  charge  that  Pitt,  at  the  head  of  the  English  Govern- 
ment, was  responsible  entirely  for  all  the  bloodshed  is  also 
unanswerable.  After  the  imprisonment  of  the  leaders  and 
after  the  death  of  Lord  Edward  Fitzgerald,  who  was  the  only 
one  who  could  have  successfully  taken  charge  of  any  military 
movement,  an  outbreak  of  the  people  would  have  been  ren- 
dered impossible,  had  the  English  Government  made  the 
slightest  concession  or  even  wished  the  country  to  remain 
at  peace. 

The  Government  knew  that  no  military  organization 
existed  and  that,  beyond  the  possession  of  a  few  pikes,  the 
people  were  unarmed ;  that  there  could  not  possibly  be  a 
rebellion,  under  ordinary  circumstances,  because  a  large  por- 

'  The  following  is  stated  to  have  been  the  form  of  the  oath  :  "I  will  be  true 
to  the  King  and  Government,  and  I  will  exterminate,  as  far  as  I  am  able,  the 
Catholics  of  Ireland."  It  is  but  just  to  state  that,  particularly  of  late  years, 
strenuous  efforts  have  been  made  to  prove  that  no  oath  of  the  kind  was  ever 
taken  ;  this  may  be  true  but  the  fact  will  then  stand  that,  at  least  during  the 
troubles  of  1798,  without  being  bound  by  an  oath  the  Orangeman  generally 
put  the  Catholic  to  death  whenever  he  had  the  power  to  do  so. 


T96  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

tion  of  the  Catholic  population  had  not  joined  the  societies 
of  the  United  Irishmen  in  consequence  of  the  secret  prom- 
ises made  by  agents  of  the  English  Government. 

But  to  accomplish  Pitt's  purpose  the  most  bitter  Orange 
organization  in  the  English  service,  the  North  Cork  Militia, 
which  was  stationed,  as  we  have  seen,  in  Dublin  and  was 
regarded  throughout  the  country  with  terror,  for  the  crimes 
and  cruelties  perpetrated  by  it,  was  sent  into  the  County 
Wexford  to  rouse  the  people  to  resistance. 

We  find  in  Teeling's  work  ' : 

"The  suppression  of  the  United  Irish  Societies  was  the  pre- 
text, but  it  was  a  feeble — it  was  a  false  one ;  it  was  notorious  that 
in  the  district  where  the  system  had  made  the  least  progress  the 
greatest  acts  of  outrage  were  perpetrated  under  the  sanction  of  the 
Government  J  and  in  those  quarters  where  the  inhabitants  were 
most  remarkable  for  a  peaceful  demeanor,  moral  disposition,  and 
obedience  to  the  laws,  every  principal  of  justice  and  humanity 
was  violated.  Wexford,  which  was  the  scene  of  the  greatest  mili- 
tary atrocity,  and  consequently  the  boldest  and  most  effectual  in 
resistance,  was  at  this  period,  less  identified  with  the  organization 
system  of  union,  than  any  other  county  in  Ireland.  Of  this  fact 
the  Government  was  perfectly  aware;  and  it  was  only  when  the 
outraged  feelings  of  human  nature  were  no  longer  able  to  bear 
the  torture  of  the  scourge,  the  blaze  of  the  incendiary,  and  the 
base  violation  of  female  virtue,^  that  Wexford  rose  as  a  man,  and 
like  a  giant  in  his  strength,  hurled  defiance  at  his  Oppressor. 
.  .  .  From  the  humble  cot  to  the  stately  mansion,  no  property, 
no  person  was  secure.  Numbers  perished  under  the  lash,  many 
were  shot  at  their  peaceful  avocations,  in  the  very  bosom  of  their 
families,  for  the  wanton  amusement  of  a  brutal  soldiery.  The 
torture  of  the  pitch-cap  was  a  subject  of  amusement  both  to 
officers  and  men,  and  the  agonies  of  the  unfortunate  victim,  writh- 
ing under  the  blaze  of  the  combustible  material,  were  increased 
by  the  yells  of  the  soldiery  and  the  pricking  of  their  bayonets, 
until  his  sufferings  were  often  terminated  by  death.     The  torture 

'  Pp.  130-132. 

'^  We  have  already,  on  the  authority  of  Plowden,  referred  to  the  boast  of 
officers  of  rank  that  in  large  districts  not  a  female  escaped  ! 


uprising  of  1798  not  Catholic  197 

practiced  in  those  days  of  Ireland's  misery  has  not  been  equalled 
in  the  annals  of  the  most  barbarous  nation,  and  the  world  has 
been  astonished,  at  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century,  with  acts 
which  the  eye  views  with  horror,  and  the  heart  sickens  to  record. 
Torture  was  resorted  to,  not  only  on  the  most  trivial,  but  ground- 
less occasions.  ...  It  was  inflicted  without  mercy  on  every 
age  and  every  condition;  the  child,  to  betray  the  safety  of  the 
parent;  the  wife,  the  partner  of  her  conjugal  affection;  and  the 
friend  and  brother  have  expired  under  the  lash,  when  the  gener- 
ous scorned  to  betray  the  defenceless  brother  or  friend. 
Wexford  is  one  of  the  minor  class  of  counties  in  geographical  ex- 
tent, and  yet  in  this  county  alone  thirty-two  Roman  chapels  were 
burnt  by  the  army  and  armed  yeomanry,  within  a  period  of  less 
than  three  months,  while  the  destruction  of  the  domestic  property 
kept  full  pace  in  proportion  with  the  sacrilegious  conflagration. 
And  this  was  the  system  which  Lord  Camden's  administration 
adopted  for  the  suppression  of  United  Irish  Societies,  and  a  tran- 
quillization  of  a  country,  which  was  peaceful  and  submissive 
until  blighted  by  its  counsels.  .  .  .  But  Government  had 
obtained  the  object  desired.  Irclatid  ivas goaded  to  resistance^  and 
security  was  sought  for  in  the  tented  field. ' ' 

It  is  necessary  for  the  reader  to  realize  the  fact  that  a  very 
large  portion  of  the  Catholics  took  no  part  whatever  in  the 
movement  of  the  United  Irishmen  after  it  became  a  secret 
organization  and  after  it  was  known  that  many  of  the  Pro- 
testant leaders  were  in  close  sympathy  with  France.  A  very 
large  proportion  of  Catholics  who  had  been  connected  with 
the  United  Irishmen  withdrew  at  an  early  date,  when  it  was 
apparent  that  the  granting  of  religious  freedom  to  them  was 
impossible  at  that  time  and  it  was  feared,  as  they  were  told 
by  the  agents  of  the  Government,  that  continuing  the  agi- 
tation would  do  irreparable  harm.  Many  of  the  wealthy 
Catholics  were  also  timid,  bearing  still  in  mind  how  their 
ancestors  had  suffered  under  the  Government  of  James, 
Charles,  Cromwell  and  William  from  confiscation,  and  con- 
sequently were  unwilling  to  compromise  themselves.  Nearly 
all  the  lower  classes,  with  the  priests,  detested  the  French 


198  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

for  their  supposed  general  free-thinking  tendencies  and  for 
the  treatment  the  Catholic  Church  had  received  at  the  hands 
of  the  French  people  since  the  Revolution. 
Newenham'  has  claimed : 

"  Had  it,  in  reality,  been  a  Roman  Catholic  rebellion,  the  ex- 
tensive counties  of  Cork,  Galway,  Kerry,  Waterford,  Limerick, 
and  Clair,  which  contained  upward  of  six  million  of  acres,  or 
nearly  one  third  of  the  area  of  Ireland ;  and  in  which  the  Roman 
Catholics  are  to  the  Protestants  as  at  least  twenty  to  one  upon 
the  whole,  would  certainly  not  have  remained  so  tranquil  as  they 
did.  .  .  .  On  the  contrary,  the  rebellion  would  probably 
have  raged,  with  the  greatest  violence,  in  these  counties;  some  of 
them,  as  Kerry  and  Galway,  for  instance,  by  the  remoteness  of 
several  of  their  districts  from  garrison  towns,  afforded  safe  places 
for  rebels  to  be  trained  to  the  use  of  arms;  and,  by  their  moun- 
tainous nature,  presenting  the  most  favorable  theatres  for  the 
desultory  and  irregular  warfare  of  rebels." 

In  consideration  of  all  these  circumstances  the  crime  com- 
mitted by  the  English  Government  becomes  the  more  man- 
ifest in  its  iniquity  by  selecting  the  county  of  Wexford,  a 
portion  of  the  country  known  to  the  Government  at  the 
time  to  be  as  loyal  as  any  part  of  England.  It  was  also  well 
known  that  the  organization  of  the  United  Irishmen  had 
been  unable  to  establish  a  single  branch  society  in  the 
county,  notwithstanding  it  was  the  most  densely  populated 
Catholic  portion  of  Ireland.  Yet  the  Government  deliber- 
ately sent  into  this  county  the  most  accomplished  set  of 
ruffians,  as  judged  by  their  own  standard,  ever  banded  to- 
gether as  Orangemen — the  North  Cork  Militia.  We  have 
already  shown  by  Teeling  how  successful  these  worthies 
were  in  carrying  out  the  purpose  of  the  Government.  But 
in  his  statement  of  all  the  crimes  committed  he  neglected  to 
refer  to  the  frightful  number  of  unprovoked  murders  com- 
mitted by  these  men,  of  which  not  the  slightest  record  was 
preserved  by  the  authorities.* 

'  P.  273.  ^  See  Appendix,  note  14. 


How  England  Planned  the  ''Uprising"  199 

Among  the  officers  of  the  troops  of  Orangemen  sent  into 
Wexford  at  this  time  there  was  no  one  more  active  than  a 
certain  Captain  Armstrong,  to  whose  exploits  many  writers 
refer.     Sampson  records  ' : 

"It  was  proved  that  Capt.  Armstrong,  of  the  King's  County 
MiHtia,  who  commanded  the  miHtary  and  yeomanry  at  Mount 
Kennedy,  had  given  orders  to  the  scouring  parties,  who  were 
almost  daily  sent  out,  that  '  if  they  should  meet  with  any  that  they 
knew  to  be  rebels,  or  suspected  to  be  such,  not  to  be  at  the 
trouble  of  bringing  them  in,  but  to  shoot  them  on  the  spot!  '  " 

This  order  was  carried  out  for  several  months  in  these  sport- 
ing expeditions  by  wantonly  slaying  every  man,  woman  or 
child  who  was  thought  to  be  a  Catholic  and  consequently  a 
rebel ! 

After  Mr.  Emmet's  arrest  and  imprisonment  in  Dublin,  as 
a  member  of  the  Directory  of  the  United  Irishmen,  he  was 
examined  August  lo,  1798,  before  the  Secret  Committee  of 
the  House  of  Commons,  when  he  thus  testified  as  to  the 
cause  of  the  Rebellion ' : 

"Lord  Chancellor.  Pray,  Mr.  Emmet,  what  caused  the  late 
insurrection? 

''Emmet.  The  free  quarters,  the  house  burnings,  the  tortures, 
and  the  military  executions,  in  the  Counties  of  Kildare,  Carlow 
and  Wicklow. 

''Lord  Chancellor.  Don't  you  think  the  arrests  of  the  12th  of 
March  caused  it? 

"Emmet,  No,  but  I  believe  if  it  had  not  been  for  those  arrests, 
it  would  not  have  taken  place  j  for  the  people  irritated  by  what 
they  had  suffered,  had  been  long  pressing  the  executive  to  con- 
sent to  an  insurrection,  but  they  had  resisted  or  eluded  it,  and 
even  determined  to  persevere  in  the  same  line ;  after  these  arrests, 
however,  other  persons  came  forward,  who  were  irritated,  and 
they  thought  differently,  who  consented  to  let  that  partial  insur- 
rection take  place." 

From  the  testimony  which  has  been  presented  it  is  evi- 

'  P.  22,  note.  ^  Pieces  of  Irish  History,  etc.,  p.  261. 


200  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

dent,  as  already  stated,  that,  at  the  time  of  the  arrest  of  the 
leaders,  open  rebellion  had  not  been  determined  on  or  even 
the  necessity  for  it  anticipated  until  all  other  means  had  been 
exhausted ;  then  only  as  a  last  resort  was  it  thought  of,  in 
case  France  offered  assistance.  Even  this  last  resort  was 
not  contemplated  until  after  England's  action  had  rendered 
it  necessary. 

It  must,  then,  be  reiterated  that  the  English  Government 
stands  convicted  of  the  crhne  of  having  deliberately  caused  the 
"Rebellion"  of  the  Irish  people  in  ijgS  and  of  having  forced 
this  issue  that  she  might  be  able  to  perpetrate  even  a  greater 
crime  in  bringing  about  the  so-called  Union. 

Wexford  was  at  length  in  arms  and  from  this  county  the 
conflict  extended  rapidly  over  the  neighboring  counties; 
but  only  where  the  troops  had  been  quartered. 

According  to  Teeling  ' : 

"The  naturally  peaceable  disposition  of  the  inhabitants,  and 
their  patience  under  cruelties  to  which  they  were  hourly  exposed, 
had  encouraged  those  who  had  inflicted  them  to  greater  aggres- 
sions ;  but  when  the  men  of  Wexford  rose,  they  displayed  a  spirit 
not  calculated  on  by  their  assailants,  and  unprecedented  in  any 
country  where  an  undisciplined  peasantry  had  to  contend  with  a 
regular  force.  The  rapidity  of  their  movements,  the  boldness  of 
their  designs,  their  courage,  perseverance,  and  astonishing  suc- 
cess, had  given  such  ascendency  to  their  arms,  as  baffled  every 
effort  of  their  enemies,  and  seemed  to  threaten  the  very  extinction 
of  the  power  to  which  they  were  opposed. 

"  Orland  was  the  first  scene  of  action.  On  the  morning  of  the 
27th  of  May  it  was  occupied  by  the  United  forces,  for  Wexford 
was  now  united.  Here  they  waited  the  arrival  of  the  King's 
troops,  who  soon  advanced  to  dislodge  them.  The  contest  was 
short,  but  it  was  decisive.  The  royal  division  was  cut  to  pieces, 
the  yeomanry  fled ;  of  the  former,  four  soldiers  only  with  their 
colonel  escaped." 

The  English  troops,  with  their  allies  the  Orangemen, 
made  but  little  headway  and  the  statement  of  Sir  Ralph 

>  p.  160. 


Cornwallis  Deludes  the  Catholics        201 

Abercrombie,  the  first  commander-in-chief,  who  resigned 
his  command  in  disgust,  was  verified  as  to  this  army  in  Ire- 
land which,  he  said,  "had  become  contemptible  to  its 
enemies,  and  formidable  only  to  its  friends." 

Sampson,  referring  to  the  above  given  criticism  of  Aber- 
crombie, wrote ' : 

"  And  true  his  words  did  prove,  when  the  half-naked  peasants 
of  a  few  counties  of  Ireland,  without  arms  or  ammunition,  or  any 
other  leaders  than  those  there  was  not  wisdom  to  deprive  them 
of,  their  misery  and  their  despair,  could  wage  war  and  gain  vic- 
tories over  the  most  costly  army  of  Europe." 

At  length  Lord  Cornwallis  was  placed  at  the  head  of  the 
Irish  Government  and  became  commander-in-chief.  He 
had  shown  in  this  country  during  the  Revolution,  at  Charles- 
ton, S.  C,  and  during  his  southern  campaign  from  Charleston 
to  Yorktown,  Virginia,  where  he  was  disposed  of,  that  he 
was  quite  competent  to  carry  on  the  war  in  Ireland  in  as 
cruel  a  manner  as  any  of  his  predecessors ;  but  he  was 
sagacious  enough  to  see  the  necessity  for  changing  his 
methods  and  for  deceiving  both  parties. 

In  a  letter  dated  April  15,  1777,  Cornwallis  wrote': 

"  On  my  arrival  in  this  country  I  put  a  stop  to  the  burning  of 
houses  and  murder  of  the  inhabitants  by  the  yeoman,  or  any 
other  person  who  delighted  in  that  amusement;  and  to  the  flog- 
ging for  the  purpose  of  extorting  confession;  and  to  the  free- 
quarters,  which  comprehend  universal  rape  and  robbery  throughout 
the  whole  country. 

Sampson  continues  his  narrative  from  the  last  quotation : 

"  Lord  Cornwallis,  something  wiser  than  his  predecessors,  or 
at  least  unactuated  by  party  spite,  saw  how  nearly  all  was  lost, 
and  formed  a  better  plan.  He  shut  up  the  houses  of  torture. 
He  forbade  pitched  caps  to  be  burned  on  men's  heads.  He  put 
an  end,  in  a  great  measure,  to  the  ravishing  of  women  and  the 

'P.  20.  '  Correspondence  of  Marquis  Cornwallis,  vol.  ii.,  p.  368. 


202  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

killing  or  whipping  of  Irishmen  for  sport.  He  interdicted  half 
hanging  to  extort  confessions.  He  put  a  stop  to  much  of  the 
pettifogging  and  chicaning  part  of  the  Administration,  and  he 
offered  pardon  and  protection  to  such  as  should  lay  down  their 
arms  and  return  to  their  homes.  But  unhappily,  whether  it  was 
that  the  faction  was  too  strong  for  him  and  wished  to  blacken  him 
as  faithless  and  disloyal,  and  to  gratify  their  jealousy  by  thwarting 
his  measures,  or  from  the  demoniac  spirit  that  governed  every 
measure  of  the  State,  certain  it  is  that  many  had  no  sooner  laid 
down  their  arms  than  they  were  murdered  defenceless,  and  in 
one  instance,  particularly,  the  massacre  of  Glencoe  was  acted 
over  on  the  Curragh  of  Kildare." 

In  explanation  of  the  above  Sampson  states  in  a  note  the 
following ' : 

"  General  Dundass,  when  at  his  headquarters  in  Naas,  on  the 
24th  of  May,  received  a  message  from  a  body  of  the  Irish,  that 
they  were  willing  to  surrender  their  arms,  provided  one  Perkins 
should  be  liberated  from  prison,  and  they  all  be  permitted  to  re- 
turn home  in  peace.  The  general,  after  writing  to  the  Castle  for 
instructions,  ratified  the  conditions.  And  a  few  days  after,  a 
large  body  who  had  surrendered  their  arms  were  cut  to  pieces  at 
Gibbet-Rath  on  the  Curragh.  The  only  pretext  which  bears  any 
colour  of  truth  was  that  one  of  the  rebels  was  foolish  enough  to 
discharge  his  gun  in  the  air  before  he  delivered  it.  This  was 
done  by  Lord  Jocelyn's  (now  Lord  Roden)  fox-hunters,  under 
the  orders  of  Sir  James  Duff,  who  had  written  that  morning  to 
General  Lake,  that  he  would  make  a  dreadful  example  of  the 
rebels.  No  reprimand  was  ever  given,  no  enquiry  made,  and 
doubtless  the  act  was  much  applauded."  ' 

Cornwallis's  conciliatory  spirit  did  not,  however,  last  long. 
From  the  earliest  record  to  a  comparatively  recent  date, 
many  in  command  of  English  troops  in  Ireland  have  been 
treacherous  and  have  never  hesitated  to  violate  their  pledge 
of  quarter  by  slaughtering  prisoners  or  allowing  them  to  die 

'  P.  21. 

'  See  the  Rev.  James  Gordon's  History  of  the  Rebellion,  p.  lOi,  and  Plow- 
den,  vol.  iv.,  p.  341. 


Why  Priests  Led  the  Insurgents        203 

from  starvation  or  barbarous  treatment  in  prison.  Through- 
out Queen  Elizabeth's  reign  and  down  to  the  beginning  of 
this  century  there  are  too  many  well-authenticated  cases  on 
record  to  have  this  statement  questioned.  The  conduct  of 
the  official  but  reflects  the  policy  of  the  Government. 

It  has  been  asserted  that  the  British  Government  never 
willingly  accepts  an  alliance  or  treaty  obligation  unless  it  be 
drawn  in  every  respect  to  her  advantage.  There  have  cer- 
tainly been  good  grounds  for  this  statement  whenever  Eng- 
land has  come  into  relation  with  a  weaker  Power;  but  we  will 
limit  the  charge  to  Ireland.  If  "history"  is  to  be  relied 
upon,  the  pledge  of  the  English  Government  or  the  word 
of  one  of  its  officials  in  a  public  capacity,  from  the  first 
promise  ever  made  to  the  people  of  Ireland  down  to  the 
present  day,  has  been  as  unreliable  as  the  Punic  faith  of  old. 

After  Cornwallis  took  charge  of  the  English  Army  in  Ire- 
land the  unequal  contest  could  not  be  long  sustained.  The 
want  of  an  organized  commissariat  rendered  it  necessary  for 
the  Irish  to  subdivide  their  forces  and  the  smaller  bodies 
were  defeated  in  detail  by  greater  numbers.  The  Irish  also 
suffered  from  the  want  of  proper  leaders ;  and  towards  the 
end  they  were  led  almost  entirely  by  their  priests,  who  were 
devoid  of  all  military  training.  The  English  writers  have 
represented  Father  Murphy,  who  commanded  at  the  battle 
of  Arklow,  and  all  the  other  priests  who  were  leaders 
as  disreputable  drunkards  and  the  attempt  has  even  been 
made  to  show  that  a  number  of  them  had  been  suspended 
from  their  religious  functions.  The  investigations  of  the 
writer  have  shown  that  it  is  scarcely  possible  for  any  state- 
ment to  be  made  which  could  be  more  devoid  of  truth. 

A  statement  was  published  by  the  English  authorities,  as 
coming  from  a  Catholic  bishop,  to  show  that  some  of  these 
clergymen  had  not  been  reputable.  If  it  be  true  that  the 
bishop  was  responsible  for  the  statement  it  will  only  show 
that  in  the  weakness  of  human  nature  he  was  corrupted, 
as  England  had  often  succeeded  in  doing  before,  and  the 
bishop  got  his  price  for  bearing  false  witness. 


204  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

There  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  these  priests,  all  of 
whom  lost  their  lives  in  battle,  had  been  loyal  to  the  Eng- 
lish Government,  that  they  had  been  without  exception 
opposed  to  the  movement  of  the  United  Irishmen  and  that 
no  branch  of  the  organization  existed  in  their  parishes. 
They  had  held  their  flocks  in  check  until  their  churches  and 
residences  had  been  wantonly  burned  over  their  heads  by 
the  Orangemen,  until  they  had  been  subjected  to  every 
personal  indignity,  until  the  women  of  their  flocks  had  been 
outraged  and  the  lives  of  all  were  in  danger;  they  were 
then  forced  to  head  the  men  of  their  congregation  to  fight 
in  self-defence. 

The  number  of  the  Irish  combatants  was  greatly  reduced 
at  an  early  period  in  consequence  of  a  promise  made  by  those 
in  authority,  who  claimed  to  represent  the  British  Govern- 
ment, that  if  the  Catholics  would  disband  and  remain 
quietly  at  their  homes  the  Government  would,  immediately 
after  peace,  grant  a  general  Catholic  Emancipation;  this 
promise  was  accepted  by  the  Irish  Catholics  in  good  faith ! 
But  this  pledge  was  disregarded  as  usual  and  no  steps  were 
taken  to  fulfil  it  until  some  thirty  years  later,  when  the 
Government  was  forced  to  grant  this  act  of  justice  as  a 
matter  of  expediency. 

Mr.  Rufus  King,  while  he  was  the  American  Minister  at 
the  Court  of  St.  James  in  1798,  made  a  protest  against  the 
Irish  leaders  being  allowed,  on  their  release,  to  come  to  the 
United  States.  In  1807  Mr.  Emmet  had  occasion  in  this 
country  to  call  for  an  explanation  from  Mr.  King  and  the 
following  extract  is  taken  from  his  letter,  for  the  purpose  of 
showing  the  nature  of  a  compact  which  was  entered  into 
between  the  State  prisoners  and  the  Government.  Mr. 
Emmet  wrote ' : 

"  In  the  summer  of  1798,  after  the  attempt  of  the  people  of  Ire- 
land for  their  emancipation  had  been  completely  defeated ;  after 
every  armed  body  had  been  dispersed  or  had  surrendered,  except 

*  Pieces  of  Irish  History,  p.  289. 


Rufus  King  and  the  Irish  Prisoners     205 

a  few  men  that  had  taken  refuge  in  the  mountains  of  Wicklow; 
while  military  tribunals,  house  burnings,  shootings,  torture  and 
every  kind  of  devastation  were  desolating  and  overwhelming  the 
defenceless  inhabitants,  some  of  the  State  prisoners  then  in  con- 
finement, entered  into  a  negotiation  with  the  Irish  Ministers 
for  effecting  a  general  amnesty;  and  as  an  inducement  offered, 
among  other  things  not  necessary  to  the  examination  of  your  con- 
duct, to  emigrate  to  such  country  as  might  be  agreed  upon  be- 
tween them  and  the  Government." 

On  the  part  of  the  prisoners  it  was  stipulated  that  those 
who  had  formed  the  Directory,  Messrs.  Emmet  and  O'Con- 
nor and  Dr.  McNeven,  should  appear  before  a  Committee 
appointed  by  Parliament  and  answer  such  questions  relating 
to  the  cause  and  progress  of  the  "  Rebellion  "  as  could  be  an- 
swered without  involving  individuals ;  and  in  addition  other 
leaders  were  to  use  their  influence  with  those  who  were  still 
in  arms  that  the  strife  might  at  once  be  terminated. 

Mr.  Emmet,  in  his  letter  to  Mr.  King,  continues  as  fol- 
lows: 

"  The  offer  was  accepted,  the  bloody  system  was  stopped  for  a 
time  and  was  not  renewed  until  after  your  interference  and  after 
the  British  Ministry  had  resolved  openly  to  break  its  faith  with  us. 
On  our  part,  we  performed  our  stipulations  with  the  most  punc- 
tilious fidelity,  but  in  such  manner  as  to  preserve  to  us  the 
warmest  approbation  of  our  friends,  and  to  excite  the  greatest 
dissatisfaction  to  our  enemies.  Government  soon  perceived,  that 
on  the  score  of  interest,  it  had  calculated  badly,  and  had  gained 
nothing  by  the  contract.  It  was  afraid  of  letting  us  go  at  large 
to  develop  and  detect  the  misrepresentations  and  calumnies  that 
were  studiously  set  afloat,  and  had  therefore,  I  am  convinced, 
determined  to  violate  its  engagement  by  keeping  us  prisoners  as 
long  as  possible.  .  .  .  Your  interference  was  then.  Sir,  made 
the  pretext  of  detaining  us  for  four  years  in  custody. 
The  British  Ministry  had  resolved  to  detain  us  prisoners  con- 
trary to  their  plighted  honour;  and  you,  Sir,  I  fear,  lent  your 
Ministerial  character  to  enable  them  to  commit  an  act  of  perfidy, 
which  they  would  not  otherwise  have  dared  to  perpetrate." 


2o6  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

This  is  but  another  instance  of  the  total  disregard  of  the 
English  Government  for  any  obligation  contracted  in  Ire- 
land, after  the  compact  had  ceased  to  be  advantageous. 
When  the  ministers  of  the  Government  realized  from  their 
spies  that  they  were  already  in  possession  of  the  greater  part 
of  the  information  the  leaders  could  give  and  that  nearly  all 
those  who  had  been  in  arms  had  been  exterminated.  They 
did  not  hesitate  then  to  violate  their  honor,  notwithstanding 
that  they  themselves  had  originated  the  proposition  and 
had  expected  the  Government  to  derive  from  it  the  greater 
benefit. 

Consequently  twenty  of  the  Irish  leaders  were  imprisoned 
for  four  years  in  Dublin  and  Fort  George,  Scotland,  without 
sufficient  evidence,  even  in  Ireland,  to  place  a  single  one  of 
them  on  trial. 

Barrington  was  a  member  of  the  Irish  Parliament  at  the 
time  when  Pitt  was  at  length  able  to  accomplish  his  purpose 
of  a  "Union,"  to  which  Barrington  was  opposed.  He 
states ' : 

"  Ireland  was  now  reduced  to  a  state  fitted  to  receive  proposi- 
tions for  a  Union.  The  loyalists  were  still  struggling  through  the 
embers  of  a  rebellion,  scarcely  extinguished  by  the  torrents  of 
blood  which  had  been  poured  upon  them;  the  insurgents  were 
artfully  distracted  between  the  hopes  of  mercy  and  the  fear  of 
punishment;  the  Viceroy  had  seduced  the  Catholics  by  delusive 
hopes  of  Emancipation  whilst  the  Protestants  were  equally  assured 
of  their  ascendancy,  and  every  encouragement  was  held  out  to 
the  Sectarians.  Lord  Cornwallis  and  Lord  Castlereagh  seemed 
to  have  been  created  for  such  a  crisis  and  for  each  other.  An 
unremitting  perseverance,  an  absence  of  all  political  compunc- 
tions, an  unqualified  contempt  for  public  opinion,  and  a  disregard 
of  every  constitutional  principle,  were  common  to  both.  They 
held  that  '  the  object  justifies  the  means  ' :  and,  unfortunately, 
their  private  characters  were  calculated  to  screen  their  public 
conduct  from  popular  suspicion. " 

'  Rise  and  Fall  of  the  Irish  Nation,  by  Sir  Jonah  Barrington,  New  York, 
1858,  p.  371. 


Pitt's  Method  of  Gaining  the  ** Union"  207 

Th^  purpose  of  Pitt,  at  the  head  of  the  English  Govern- 
ment, should  never  be  lost  sight  of  by  the  reader.  His  first 
step  was  to  force  the  people  into  the  ' '  Rebellion  "  of  1 798,  as 
we  have  shown.  To  insure  the  movement  the  Government 
gave  free  license  and  protection  to  the  Orangemen,  that  the 
Catholics  might  suffer  from  every  crime  at  their  hands  and 
even  more  than  in  the  halcyon  days  of  persecution  under 
Queen  Elizabeth. 

Dr.  Madden  states  ' : 

"  Terrible  sufferings  were  endured  by  the  Irish  people  in  1797 
and  1798.  But  the  Government  of  Ireland  at  that  time,  and  the 
British  Minister,  William  Pitt,  who  guided  its  course,  were  as  deaf 
as  adders  to  all  complaints  of  these  sufferings.  We  need  not  ex- 
pend all  our  denunciations  on  the  crimes  and  the  State  Criminals 
of  the  Convention  or  Directory  of  France.  .  .  .  The  man  in 
Ireland  of  our  terrorists  who,  perhaps,  resembled  Robespierre 
most  in  cool  phlegmatic  insensibility,  and  calm,  unruffled,  imper- 
turbable indifference  for  the  effusion  of  blood  in  the  accomplish- 
ment of  his  political  ends  was  Lord  Castlereagh.  .  .  .  The 
secret  of  Robespierre's  early  rise  and  seizure  of  power  was  a 
vigilant  observance  of  the  actors  of  his  time,  and  of  the  aspirants 
to  political  notoriety,  which  made  him  familiar  with  the  peculiari- 
ties, the  passions,  and  opinions,  and  the  weakness  of  public  men 
of  his  times.  Such  was  the  secret,  too,  of  the  rise  of  Robert 
Stewart  (Lord  Castlereagh),  the  Volunteer,  the  delegate  of  the 
convention  of  Dungannon,  the  pledged  reformer,  the  member  of 
parliament,  the  corrupter  and  buyer-up  of  its  members ;  the  man 
who  dallied  with  sedition,  and  vaunted  of  having  caused  rebellion 
to  explode  prematurely^  who  sought  in  that  rebellion  the  accomplish- 
ment of  a  political  object  and  achieved  it  for  his  Master  at  the  ex- 
pense, be  it  remembered,  of  more  blood  than  ever  Robespierre 
caused  to  be  shed — of  seventy  thousand  human  beings."  (And 
in  a  note  following:)  "  Twenty  thousand  of  the  King's  troops, 
and  fifty  thousand  of  the  people  perished  in  this  rebellion." 

It  is  doubtful  if  even  an  approximation  of  the  number 
of  lives  lost  can  now  be  ascertained.      But  from  the  testi- 

'  Vol.  i.,  p.  353. 


2o8  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

mony  we  are  able  to  procure  it  is  not  improbable  that 
three  times  the  number  given  above,  of  those  who  fell  in 
battle,  would  not  be  in  excess  of  the  wilful  murders  com- 
mitted by  the  Orangemen  in  their  daily  raids  on  the  defence- 
less men,  women  and  children  who  by  chance  came  in  their 
way.  No  prisoners  were  ever  brought  in  by  these  parties. 
The  charge  has  never  been  disproved,  although  denied,  that 
on  becoming  an  Orangeman  these  men  took  an  oath  to 
exterminate  the  Catholics  so  far  as  their  individual  efforts 
could  accomplish  that  purpose ! 

Their  commanding  officers,  as  we  have  seen,  gave  orders 
not  to  take  the  trouble  to  bring  any  in  but  to  put  to  death 
any  person,  met  by  accident,  wlio  might  be  suspected  of 
being  a  rebel  and,  consequently  from  their  standpoint,  a 
Catholic ;  so  no  one  escaped  if  defenceless ! 

Dr.  Madden  wrote  in  his  Lives  of  the  United  Irishinen: 
"It  is  generally  admitted  by  all,  but  more  especially  by  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Gordon,  that  very  many  more  were  put  to  death 
in  cold  blood,  than  perished  in  the  field  of  Battle.  The 
number  of  deaths  arising  from  torture  or  massacre,  where 
no  resistance  was  offered,  during  the  year  1798,  forms  the 
far  greater  portion  of  the  total  number  slain  in  this  con- 
test." The  words  of  Mr.  Gordon  are':  "I  have  reason  to 
think,  more  men  than  fell  in  battle  were  slain  in  cold  blood. 
No  quarter  was  given  to  persons  taken  prisoners,  as  Rebels, 
with  or  without  arms!  " 

The  Rev.  James  Gordon  was  in  sympathy  with  the  Eng- 
lish Government  and  with  the  Orange  faction,  so  far  as  an 
honest  man  could  be.  He  lived  at  the  time  and  in  the 
midst  of  the  scenes  he  describes.  On  page  229  he  makes 
the  additional  statement : 

"A  mode  of  proceeding  against  imputed  rebels,  more  summary 
still  than  that  of  trials  by  court-martial,  was  practiced  from  the 
commencement  of  the  rebellion  by  soldiers,  yeomen  and  supple- 
mentaries,  who  frequently  executed  without  any  trial,  such  as 

'  P.  269. 


Brutality  is  Habitual  with  English  Soldiery  209 

they  judged  worthy  of  death,  even  persons  found  unarmed  in 
their  own  houses.  This  practice  of  the  soldiers  and  yeomen, 
which,  conducted  with  too  little  discrimination  of  guilt  and  innocence^ 
denied  safety  at  home  to  the  peaceably  inclined,  &c." 

This  writer  had  three  sons  and  other  relatives,  officers  in 
the  yeoman  troops,  so  that  while  stating  the  truth  he  has 
unconsciously  been  influenced  in  underrating  the  horrible 
condition  of  license  which  existed. 

It  is  but  just  to  the  Orangemen,  and  they  stand  in  need 
of  all  extenuating  circumstances,  to  state  that  they  were 
frequently  under  the  command  of  English  ofificers  who 
should  have  held  them  in  check.  A  number  of  these  officers 
served  in  the  American  Revolution,  where  they  were  often 
guilty  to  the  greatest  degree  of  cruelty  and  debauchery; 
therefore  it  is  not  likely  that  they  disapproved  the  excesses 
committed  by  the  Orangemen  under  their  command.  The 
names  of  many  of  these  English  officers,  as  well  as  their  ex- 
ploits, are  very  familiar  to  the  student  of  American  history. 
Throughout  the  Revolutionary  War  their  treatment  of 
prisoners  was  notorious  and  only  the  fear  of  retaliation, 
which  had  to  be  resorted  to,  ever  held  them  in  check.  The 
horrors  of  the  English  prison  ship  and  of  their  provost  jails 
are  too  familiar  to  the  student  to  need  further  comment. 
But  to  show  the  reader  what  seems  to  be  the  natural'  pro- 
clivity of  the  English  soldier,  when  opposed  to  a  weaker 
power,  and  that  his  course  in  Ireland  for  centuries  past 
has  not  been  exceptional  to  that  country,  the  writer  will 
refer  the  reader  to  a  quotation  given  in  the  Appendix  from 
Thacher's  Military  Journal,^  in  which  is  given  a  portion 
of  a  well-known  speech  made  by  Governor  William  Livings- 
ton to  the  General  Assembly  of  the  State  of  New  Jersey 
on  March  5,  1776.  The  Governor,  who  was  also  a  military 
man,  appeared  before  that  body  to  urge  a  resort  to  retalia- 
tion   for   their   protection.      A   like    communication    from 

^  Military  yournal,  etc.,  second  edition,  by  James  Thacher,  M.B.,  Boston, 
1827,  p.  78. 

VOL.    I.  — 14. 


2IO  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

Governor  John    Rutledge'    to    the    Legislature   of    South 
Carolina  will  be  found  in  the  Appendix.  . 

The  people  of  Ireland  have  suffered  even  to  a  greater 
degree  than  Governor  Livingston  or  Governor  Rutledge 
charged ;  and  so  have  the  people  in  every  part  of  the  world 
suffered  wherever  an  English  soldier  has  placed  his  foot, 
unless  his  opponent  were  strong  enough  to  retaliate.  Yet 
many  of  these  oflficers  in  command  were  by  birth  and 
education  gentlemen  and  men  of  refinement  at  home.  We 
cannot  therefore  in  all  instances  charge  the  individual  with 
full  responsibility ;  so  long  as  he  controlled  his  lust  in  other 
relations  we  must  regard  him  rather  as  an  exponent  of  the 
long  settled  policy  of  the  British  Government.  As  soon  as  a 
soldier  enters  the  public  service  he  becomes  but  part  of  the 
great  machine  for  oppressing  all  but  the  English  people 
themselves  and  his  course  is  regulated  to-day  in  India, 
South  Africa  or  elsewhere  by  the  same  selfish  influence 
which  developed  his  brutality  in  Ireland  from  the  days  of 
the  Normans  to  the  present  time;  and  nothing  but  the  fear 
of  a  stronger  power  ever  held  it  in  check. 

'  Anecdotes  of  the  American  Revolution,  etc.,  by  Alexander  Garden,  see 
Appendix,  note  15.     Brooklyn  reprint,  1865,  vol.  iii.,  p.  242. 


CHAPTER  XII 

IRELAND  RECEIVED  NO  BENEFIT  FROM  THE  **  UNION  " — AN 
ESSAY  BY  DR.  McNEVEN — ENGLAND  HAS  ALWAYS 
VIOLATED  HER  TREATY  OBLIGATIONS  WHEN  TO  HER 
ADVANTAGE — SHE  IGNORES  HER  TREATY  WITH  THE 
UNITED  STATES  AFTER  THE  REVOLUTION  UNTIL 
FORCED  TO  OBSERVE  ITS  TERMS — EXTRACTS  FROM 
WRITINGS  OF  MISS  EMMET 

Ireland  received  no  benefit  from  the  Union  with  Eng- 
land but,  as  a  part  of  history,  it  is  of  interest  now  to  consider 
what  was  promised  as  a  consequence  of  its  consummation. 

It  is  instructive  to  study  the  convictions  of  those  who 
opposed  the  measure  and  a  knowledge  thereon  is  not  with- 
out profit.  As  the  chief  objections  offered  against  the  pro- 
posed Union  were  fully  realized  by  all  who  were  familiar 
with  the  subject,  we  will  limit  the  selection  to  one  writer — 
and  there  is  fitness  in  the  choice. 

Extracts  will  be  taken  from  an  essay  written  by  Dr.  Mc- 
Neven,'  who  it  will  be  recollected  was  one  of  the  Directory 
of  the  United  Irishmen  and  was  arrested  with  other  leaders 
in  the  spring  of  1798.  Dr.  McNeven  must  have  written 
this  pamphlet  and  had  it  printed  while  in  Newgate  Prison, 
Dublin,  before  the  leaders  were  placed  in  close  confinement, 
deprived  of  sunlight  and  fresh  air  and  a  sufificient  amount 

'  An  Argument  for  Independence,  in  Opposition  to  an  Union.  Addressed  to 
all  His  Countrymen.  By  an  Irish  Catholic.  "  Now  I  ask  you  what  is  it  that 
has  given  you  everything  ?  Is  it  not  time  ?  And  as  time  has  given  you  every- 
thing, reflect  that  time  may  also  take  everything  away  from  you  ;  but  time  is 
not  necessary — negotiation  alone  is  sufficient  to  undo  you.  When  have  you 
Demanded  that  you  have  not  succeeded  ?  and  when  have  you  negotiated,  that 
you  have  not  been  deceived?''' — Flood,  Dublin,  J.  Stockdale  &  Co.,  1799,  p.  51. 


212  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

of  food ;  before  they  were  denied  the  use  of  books,  pen,  ink 
and  paper.  From  Dr.  McNeven's  own  copy,  filled  afterwards 
with  his  own  annotations,  we  take  the  following  extracts : 

"There  is  now  no  affectation  of  denying,  that  the  projected 
Union  between  Ireland  and  Great  Britain  will  be  submitted  in 
the  next  session  to  the  consideration  of  Parliament ;  nor  does  any 
person  who  considers  the  constitution  of  that  assembly,  in  the 
least  doubt  what  will  be  the  decision  of  the  question.  But  while 
it  is  not  yet  treason  to  discuss  the  subject,  an  Irishman  may 
indulge  the  melancholy  satisfaction  of  sympathizing  with  his 
countrymen  upon  the  impending  calamity.  .  .  .  Has  Eng- 
land ever  done  a  voluntary  or  gratuitous  favour  ?  And  if  not 
whether  shall  we  attribute  this  measure  of  an  Union,  to  a  regard 
for  us,  or  for  herself?  If  she  has  not  dared  to  propose,  though 
she  has  betrayed  the  desire  of  proposing,  this  measure,  during 
the  existence  of  national  harmony,  and  consequent  vigour,  but 
brings  it  now  forward,  when  civil  strife  and  fatal  animosities 
have  set  those  in  hostile  opposition,  who  should  be  united  for 
their  common  freedom ;  when  she  expects  that  one  despicable  set 
of  monopolists,  increasing  in  rancour  in  proportion  to  their  crimes, 
will  give  up  Ireland,  rather  than  share  it  in  equal  liberty  with 
their  countrymen ;  and  when  she  expects,  falsely  I  hope  expects, 
that  the  mass  of  Irish  population,  in  order  to  be  revenged  of  its 
adversaries,  will  consent  to  the  ruin,  does  she  not,  by  such  con- 
duct, disclose  her  own  judgment  of  the  scheme,  and  pursue  the 
policy  of  all  ambitious  and  unprincipled  powers,  who  take  advan- 
tage of  the  dissensions  of  their  neighbours,  to  promote  their  own 
selfish  ends  of  aggrandizement? 

"  It  is  England  which  seeks  for  this  Union,  not  Ireland;  Eng- 
land forces  this  Union,  not  Ireland ;  and  England  will  take  care 
to  benefit  by  the  measure,  which  she  alone  pushes  forward  in  the 
crisis  of  our  folly.  Our  prospects  therefore,  in  the  first  instance, 
is  no  other  than  the  loss  of  every  fostering,  every  defensive  power, 
which  a  nation  should  possess;  and  that  England,  as  the  stronger 
party  in  this  competition,  will,  whenever  she  chooses,  violate  the 
compact  which  she  alone  will  have  formed. 

"  But  the  fact  is,  temptations  will  arise  along  with  the  power  of 
violating  the  reciprocity  of  the  compact.     The  same  inducements 


McNeven's  Argument  against  the  "Union"  213 

will  remain  of  self-interest,  and  monopoly,  and  avarice,  which  led 
to  the  annihilation  of  the  woollen  manufacture,  and  the  virtual 
prevention  of  many  others  to  which  our  situation  was  adapted. 
Will  not  those  English  members  of  ParHament,  who  applaud  the 
system  of  torture  and  massacre,  of  house-burning,  rapine  and 
rape,  so  indiscriminately  and  so  extensively  practiced  under  the 
late  Administration,  will  they  not  approve  also  of  coercing  Irish 
pockets,  for  the  benefit  of  the  empire? 

"  We  shall  be  governed  like  a  conquered  people  :  and  with  them,  we 
shall  be  ill  governed. 

"  The  proposed  Union  resolves  itself  into  a  treaty,  which  will 
profess,  like  all  other  treaties,  that  there  shall  be  lasting  peace 
and  friendship  between  the  high  contracting  parties,  but  in  which, 
differently  from  all  other  treaties,  one  of  the  parties  which  would 
naturally  defend  its  owtz  compact,  will  be  antiihilated  by  the  very  act ! 

"  Let  not  the  domestic  animosities  of  the  moment  blind  us  to  the 
conduct  already  observed  by  England,  towards  a  large  portion  of 
the  people  of  this  country.  The  articles  of  Limerick  were  as  solemn 
a  treaty  as  the  present  can  be;  and  the  consideration  given  at  that 
day,  by  the  Irish,  was  an  invaluable  price  for  the  benefits  those 
articles  should  have  secured ;  but  the  Catholics  relied  upon  Eng- 
lish good  faith,  and  in  the  end  were  the  victims  of  their  credulity. 

"  In  like  manner,  the  Articles  of  the  Scotch  Union  were  vio- 
lated in  a  case  favourable  to  England.  The  Scotch  members, 
highly  to  their  honour,  resisted  the  infringement  as  far  as  their 
numbers  would  enable  them,  but  they  were  the  minority  party, 
and  not  permitted  to  ward  off  the  evil;  neither  had  they  power 
to  dissolve  the  treaty. 

"  It  were  advisable  for  the  Irish  Parliament  to  pause  upon  these 
two  examples,  before  it  enters  upon  a  negotiation  with  England, 
by  which  it  is  to  be  annihilated  as  a  contracting  party;  and,  hon- 
estly, to  remember  that  in  these  two  (the  only  ones  in  which  the 
parties  on  one  side,  made  a  surrender  of  their  effective  power), 
the  treaties  were  infringed. 

"  For  us  to  form  an  estimate  of  their  future  conduct,  there  can 
be  no  better  rule  than  their  past  infidelity;  especially  as  in  all 
acts  of  this  nature,  the  nation  has  been  an  accomplice  with  its  govern- 
ment. In  its  relation  with  other  States,  the  instances  of  Punic  faith 
are  numberless ;  though  in  these,  annexed  to  the  odium  of  the 


214  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

violation,  there  was  danger  of  chastisement;  but  I  shall  notice 
only  one;  certain  forts  bordering  on  the  lakes  and  the  Indian 
territory  should  have  been  evacuated  after  the  last  general  peace, 
and  ceded  to  America;  but  as  they  were  valuable  stations  for 
monopolizing  the  fur  trade,  they  were  held  in  possession  '  under 
various  pretexts,  and  at  one  time  at  the  hazard  of  hostilities.  As 
soon  as  views  of  greater  interest  showed  that  it  would  be  better  to 
conciliate  than  longer  to  defy  the  Americans ;  when  the  latter,  by 
favouring  the  French,  could  so  materially  hurt  the  English,  and  so 
easily  vindicate  themselves;  then,  and  not  till  then,  was  the  treaty 
of  1783  complied  with  in  all  its  parts;  England  manifesting  in 
this  double  proceeding,  how  little  she  regarded  the  mere  obligatio7is 
of  justice  ;  how  entirely  she  is  swayed  by  the  allureme?its  of  gain. "^ 

"  It  is  in  this  monopolizing  and  delusive  spirit,  that  England 
puts  forward  as  a  favour  granted  to  this  country^  the  premium  she 
gives  to  her  own  merchants  upon  the  export  of  our  linens;  by 
which  she  endeavours  to  make  them  the  factors  of  our  only  great 
staple,  giving  to  them  the  profits  of  commission  and  freight,  and 
to  her  sailors  the  advantage  of  employment ! 

"  If  the  Union  be  once  carried,  it  will  be  used  to  the  only  pur- 
pose, in  which  it  can  be  more  beneficial  to  England  than  the 

'  These  forts,  situated  along  the  northern  border  of  the  United  States  on  the 
south  side  of  the  northern  lakes,  were  to  have  been  surrendered  immediately 
after  the  termination  of  the  Revolution  in  1783,  but  England  found  the 
stations  profitable  and  retained  possession  until  after  the  Jay  treaty  was  signed 
in  1795.  She  was  then  forced  to  give  them  up  or  she  would  have  had  to  take 
the  consequences  of  a  war  with  this  country.  But  she  ignored  the  treaty  obli- 
gation so  long  as  the  United  States  was  unable  to  enforce  it ! 

°  England's  disregard  of  treaty  or  the  observance  of  any  obligation,  unless 
when  prompted  by  interest  or  the  fear  of  a  stronger  Power,  has  been  already 
shown.  Governor  John  Rutledge's  address  relating  to  the  outrages  committed 
by  the  English  troops  has  been  given  in  the  Appendix.  In  another  portion  of 
the  same  communication  addressed  to  the  Legislature  of  South  Carolina,  he  thus 
expresses  his  opinion:  "  Each  time  the  proceedings  of  that  nation  sully  the 
pages  of  history  there  will  be  a  nation  without  faith,  by  whom  oathes,  treaties, 
and  the  most  solemn  engagements  have  only  been  regarded  as  part  of  the 
game  ;  who  have  renounced,  without  scruple  or  remorse,  all  regard  for  human- 
ity, honour,  justice,  and  every  sentiment  that  can  enoble  the  human  heart.  It 
is  almost  impossible  to  conceive  any  circumstance  that  could  aggravate  the 
atrocious  wickedness  of  their  conduct.  There  is  not  one  degree  left  in  the 
scale  of  degradation  for  the  name  of  Briton  to  become  henceforth  an  insult 
among  the  nations  of  the  world." 


McNeven's  Vain  Appeal  to  Orangemen  215 

present  connection;  to  enable  her  to  mortgage  this  country  for  her 
debt,  and  increase  her  exhausted  facility  of  borrowing,  by  enlarg- 
ing the  security.     This  will  involve  an  extension  of  her  taxes. 

"  Can  40,000  men  be  necessary  to  enforce  a  benefit?  We 
have  not  unfrequently  seen  them  employed  to  effect  a  people's 
ruin,  and  thank  GOD!  sometimes  so  employed  in  vain.  The  ex- 
tension of  debt  and  taxes,  which  is  to  be  the  reciprocity  of  the 
Union,  is  wisely  not  left  to  stand  upon  its  own  merits,  but  re- 
quires to  be  organized  by  mercenary  bayonets. 

' '  We  ourselves  have  prospered  in  proportiofi  as  our  subjection  to 
Englajid  has  been  lessened  J  and  America,  after  throwing  off  her 
dominion  altogether,  is  become,  in  a  short  space  of  sixteen  years, 
one  of  the  most  prosperous  countries  on  the  globe. 

' '  Take  this  Union  then,  as  it  affects  all  the  sources  of  wealth 
and  consequence,  it  will  be  found  one  of  the  most  overbearing 
and  rapacious  projects,  which  power  can  dictate  to  a  fallen  peo- 
ple; take  it,  as  it  affects  constitution  and  national  dignity,  it  is 
one  of  the  most  insulting  and  despotic. 

"The  Orange  barbarities  were  fomented  with  a  view  to  ripen  this 
catastrophy  :  but  let  me  not  sully  my  page  with  party  appellations, 
and  fall  into  the  snares  of  our  enemies. 

"  Who  does  not  perceive  the  same  hostile  power  which  fomented 
our  unhappy  disputes,  seeking  to  reap  the  harvest  of  its  profligate 
intrigues,  when  it  presumes  to  think  that  our  resentments  and 
folly  have  so  degraded  us,  as  to  make  us  look  for  reciprocal 
satisfaction,  in  mutual  annihilation?  But,  countrymen!  let  this 
infamous  attack  rally  you  round  the  standard  of  independence. 
In  spite  of  your  dissensions,  you  are  still  children  of  the  same 
parent.  The  veriest  Orangeman  among  you  need  not  go  to  Eng- 
land, and  the  Irish  stranger  will  be  taught  by  the  contumely 
with  which  he  is  received,  that  he  belongs  to  another  country; 
and  will  you  then  cast  away  all  which  gives  that  country  rank, 
and  retain  of  Ireland  nothing  but  her  brogue?  O  let  one  wise  and 
generous  act  of  patriotism  bury  your  nonsensical  quarrels  in 
oblivion.  Learn  from  this  odious  conspiracy  against  your  indepen- 
dence, that  if  you  have  been  indulged  in  the  monstrous  facility  of 
cutting  each  other's  throats,  it  was  in  order  to  resume  that  do- 
minion over  your  properties  and  trade,  which  was  once  reluctantly 
yielded  to  your  unanimity  and  spirit;  but  above  all,  let  me  conjure 


2i6  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

you,  Catholics,  and  you  who  are  advocates  of  reform,  and  lovers 
of  liberty,  not  to  give  countenance  to  an  incorporating  Union. 

"The  machinations  of  our  enemies  will,  I  trust,  be  turned  to 
their  own  confusion,  and  my  beloved  countrymen  at  last  con- 
vinced, that  to  be  cordially  united  to  each  other,  is  the  only  shield  of 
safety  and  of  freedom. ' ' 

Mr.  Emmet  has  placed  on  record  a  description  of  the  true 
political  condition  of  Ireland  at  the  beginning  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  and  just  previous  to  the  time  when  the 
English  Government  forced  the  so-called  Union  upon  the 
Irish  people.      He  wrote  ' : 

"  Her  rulers  are  English,  and  totally  divested  of  all  kinds  of 
Irish  responsibility.  Her  legislature  is  devoted  to  the  English 
Ministry  and  practically  unconnected  with  the  Irish  nation.  On 
the  Lords  it  would  be  absurd  to  bestow  a  thought,  nor  are  the 
Commons  deserving  of  more  attention.  Three-fourths  of  the 
people  are  formally  excluded,  by  the  Catholic  laws,  from  being 
counted  among  their  constituents;  and  the  other  fourth  is  but  as 
dust  in  the  balance.  Exclusive  of  private  adventurers  in  the 
political  market,  about  thirty  individuals,  principally  Lords,  possess 
the  power  of  returning  a  majority  in  the  House  of  Commons,  and 
even  two-thirds  of  the  representation  are  engrossed  by  less  than 
one  hundred  persons.  These  wholesale  dealers  as  regularly  sell 
their  members  as  a  country  grazier  does  his  cattle,  and  the  steady 
purchaser  is  the  British  Agent.     Such  is  the  Irish  Government. 

Miss  Mary  Ann  Emmet,  the  sister  of  Thomas  Addis  and 
Robert  Emmet,  after  writing  in  opposition  to  the  proposed 
Bill  for  the  Union,  apparently  accepted  the  inevitable  and 
wrote  * : 

"I  have  seen  with  indignation,  suspended  by  astonishment, 
the  efforts  which  have  been  made  use  of  to  raise  an  opposition  to 
the  intended  measure  of  an  Union.  I  have  attended  with  anxiety 
to  what  might  be  the  result  of  this  opposition,  and  I  have  been 
convinced  that  on  your  part  it  will  be  impotent  and  injurious. 

"  The  period  is  a  singular  one,  the  events  of  the  present  year 

^Pieces  of  J  risk  History,  etc.,  p.  5. 

*  These  extracts  are  taken  from  An  Address  to  the  People  of  Ireland,  Show- 


Miss  Emmet  on  the  "Union"  217 

mock  the  calculations  of  the  last,  and  where  the  revolution  of  the 
public  mind  will  rest,  who  will  be  daring  enough  to  say,  who 
would  have  been  hardy  enough  to  predict  in  1798,  that  at  the 
commencement  of  1799,  Parliament  would  oppose  the  measure 
of  the  British  Minister?  Who  could  have  foreseen  and  by  whom 
would  it  have  been  believed,  that  patriotism,  long  suffering,  much 
reviled  and  much  calumniated  patriotism,  driven  from  the 
northern  coast  to  seek  refuge  on  the  sea-beaten  wilds  of  the  west 

—  pursued  wherever  it  could  be  traced,  by  extermination  — 
branded  wherever  it  rose,  with  infamy — and  marked  wherever  it 
was  met,  for  destruction,  that  spirit,  against  which  every  hand  of 
power  was  raised,  which  like  the  troubled  dove,  could  find  no 
place  on  which  to  fix  its  feet,  on  which  to  rest  its  wing;  should 
seek  and  should  find  a  sanctuary  in  the  great  chair  of  the  House 
of  Commons,  and  animate  the  declamation  of  the  opposition? ' 

"Accustomed  as  I  have  been  to  consider  Parliament  not  as  the 
sanctuary  of  patriotism,  the  adoption  of  the  name  does  not  bring 
conviction  to  my  mind  that  they  are  animated  by  the  spirit;  and 
I  warn  my  countrymen  to  beware  of  the  delusion.  You  are 
called  on  to  oppose  this  Union,  and  to  preserve  your  rights. 
Now,  I  ask  the  men  who  call  on  you,  what  rights  you  have  to 
support?  I  ask  Parliament  what  right  they  have  not  wrested  from 
you?  They  adjure  you  to  support  the  Constitution.  Alas!  for 
that  Constitution,  originally  a  shadow,  now  embodies  a  substance 
of  corruption.  You  are  called  upon  to  resist,  what?  Not  op- 
ing Them  why  They  ought  to  Submit  to  the  Union,  with  the  motto,  "  Of  comfort 
no  man  speak  ;  let's  talk  of  graves,  of  worms  and  epitaphs."  Dublin,  1799, 
p,  16.  (See  Appendix,  note  16.)  Dr.  Madden  states:  "This  pamphlet  is 
written  with  very  great  power  and  its  mode  of  advocating  the  Union  may  be 
gathered  from  its  motto.  The  design  of  this  extraordinary  production  was  to 
expose  to  the  people  the  true  character  of  the  new-born  patriotism  of  such  men 
as  John  Claudius  Beresford,  the  Right  Honourable  John  Foster,  Lord  Kings- 
borough,  Lord  Cole,  Colonel  Barry,  Messrs.  Whaley,  Saurin,  Vereker  and 
Bagwell  ;  many  of  whom  were  then  (1799)  red  hot  '  patriots,'  who  in  the  year 
following  were  not  ashamed  to  sell  their  country,  but  thankful  to  Providence 
(as  one  of  them  had  the  candour  to  acknowledge)  that  they  had  a  country  to  sell. 
We  have  spoken  of  this  pamphlet  as  an  extraordinary  production  ;  a  few  extracts 
from  it  will  show  that  the  term  has  not  been  misapplied.  The  reader  will 
please  to  remember  that  it  was  written  forty-four  (over  one  hundred)  years  ago." 

—  The  United  Irishmen,  etc.,  third  series,  p.  20,  i860.     See  Appendix,  note  16. 
'  Reference  is  made  to  the  Hon.  John  Foster,  the  Speaker. 


2i8  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

pression,  it  has  \>^q.x\ protected.  Not  injustice,  it  has  been  legalized. 
Not  cruelty,  it  has  been  indemnified.  You  are  called  on  to  resist 
an  Union.  You  are  called  upon  to  oppose  an  incorporation,  by 
which  you  are  to  lose — a  name.  .  .  .  If  I  am  to  bend  to  the 
altar  of  British  supremacy,  if  I  am  to  wear  the  chains  of  ever- 
lasting slavery,  it  matters  not  to  me  whether  I  wear  them  as  an 
Irishman,  or  a  West  Briton.  It  matters  not  to  me,  whether  my 
fetters  are  forged  in  East  or  West  Briton ;  if  I  am  to  receive  the 
essence  I  will  not  war  about  the  form  in  which  it  is  presented  to 
me.  If  you  had  one  right  unalienated,  I,  too,  would  say  to  you, 
while  the  life  blood  flowed  from  my  heart  in  defence  of  that  right 
— never  submit  to  an  Union — never,  never,  never! 

"  Is  it  for  the  convention,  the  insurrection,  and  the  indemnity 
acts,  that  you  are  to  resist  the  annihilation  of  the  Parliament 
which  passed  them?  While  those  bills  stand  recorded  on  their 
journals  Parliament  ought  to  know  that  the  country  cannot  dread 
their  extinction.  And  if  the  minister  of  England  wishes  to  use 
any  argument  but  military  force  for  the  accomplishment  of  this 
measure,  let  him  present  that  statute  book  to  the  people  and  ask 
them — '  Why  should  I  wish  the  duration  of  this  Parliament?  Do 
you  not  feel  that  I  am  omnipotent  in  it?  Are  not  my  mandates 
written  here  in  blood? ' 

"  If  the  Parliament  meant  fairly  by  the  people,  if  they  wished 
to  gain  their  confidence  or  to  deserve  it,  they  would  expunge  from 
their  records  those  acts  which  must  forever  blast  confidence  and 
destroy  hope.  They  would  say  to  the  people.  Countrymen,  we 
are  men,  and  we  are  weak — we  have  injured  you,  most  deeply, 
most  fatally — we  were  placed  here  to  protect,  and  we  have  de- 
stroyed you;  but  we  will  repair  that  injury,  we  will  revoke  that 
destruction.  We  here  repeal,  in  the  face  of  our  country,  that 
code  which  the  barbarous  prejudices  of  our  ancestors  instituted 
— we  repeal,  too,  that  code,  which  our  own  sanguinary  policy 
framed.  We  return  into  your  hands  the  power  which  you  dele- 
gated to  us;  purify  it,  regulate  and  restrict  it;  and  from  the 
sovereignty  of  the  people,  if  the  people  wills  it,  we  will  again 
receive  it.  Parliament  of  Ireland,  act  thus,  and  the  people  tvill 
oppose  an  Union.  Expunge  from  your  statutes  those  sanguinary 
proscriptions;  and  a  generous  people  will  erase  from  their  re- 
membrance, the  recollection  that  they  ever  existed,  from  their 


Ireland  Enmeshed  by  Pitt  219 

bosoms,  the  feelings  which  they  have  excited.  Do  this,  and  you 
will  stand;  if  you  do  not,  you  sink. 

"  The  people  see  that  the  minister  may  be  defeated;  they  see 
that  those  very  laws,  which  are  enforced  against  them,  are  nuga- 
tory against  the  higher  orders — they  see  the  Convention  Bill  in- 
fringed by  the  very  men  who  framed  it;  and  county  meetings 
called  universally  under  the  auspices  of  Members  of  Parliament. 

"  If  great  men  have  a  right  to  call  county  meetings  to  express 
their  disapprobation  of  one  measure,  have  not  poor  men  a  right  to 
call  them,  to  express  their  wishes  for  another?  Are  laws  only  bind- 
ing, when  they  are  to  restrict  a  people  from  stating  their  grievances, 
from  demanding  redress?  County  meetings  ought  to  be  called,  the 
people  ought  to  instruct  their  representatives  to  examine  into  their 
grievances,  to  redress  them ;  to  frame  a  Parliament  reform  on  the 
broad  principles  of  immutable  justice  and  universal  franchise; 
they  ought  to  instruct  them  to  address  the  King,  to  withdraw  his 
foreign  troops,  only  retained  here  to  intimidate  and  extirpate. 

"  I  shall  not  enter  into  a  discussion  of  the  merits  or  justice  of 
the  measure;  in  my  mind,  there  can  be  but  one  opinion  as  to  its 
justice;  and  but  one  argument  for  its  adoption,  necessity.  If  I 
was  inclined  to  oppose  an  Union,  it  should  be  with  the  speech  of 
the  English  Minister;  in  which  I  cannot  find  one  argument  in 
favour  of  it,  save  that  one  to  the  potency  of  which  I  bow — Force. 

"  For  what  think  you,  is  the  daily  importation  of  English  sol- 
diers? Is  it  to  subdue  rebellion?  Rebellion  no  longer  exists  and 
the  work  of  extirpation  is  nearly  over;  the  Ancient  Britons  are 
fully  equal  to  the  accomplishing  of  that — it  is  to  intimidate — it  is 
to  tell  you,  in  a  language  that  it  would  be  stupidity  not  to  under- 
stand and  it  is  madness  not  to  attend  to,  that  the  Minister  of 
England  wills  an  Union.  As  long  as  foreign  troops  are  spread 
over  your  country,  as  long  as  they  swarm  in  your  capital,  trust 
me  an  Union  is  not  relinquished,  trust  me  it  is  the  intention  to 
dragoon  you  into  the  acceptance  of  it;  and  as  long  as  you,  legis- 
lators of  the  land,  permit,  without  representation  or  complaint, 
force  and  illegality  to  stalk  triumphant  through  your  streets,  you 
cannot  wonder  if  the  People  doubt  your  sincerity  and  feel  an  in- 
difference about  your  existence. 

"  Nor  shall  I  dwell  more  on  the  advantages  which  are  to  accrue 
to  this  country  from  an  Union  than  I  have  done  on  the  justice  of 


220  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

the  measure;  nor  do  I  believe  that  one  advantage  will  result  from 
it,  or  from  any  other  convention  between  Ireland  and  Great 
Britain,  which  the  English  Minister  proposes,  and  which  the 
English  mercantile  interest  approves  of,  no  convention  or  com- 
munity of  interest  ever  will  be  equitably  conducted  when  both 
parties  are  not  equally  able  to  assert  their  own  rights,  and  to  resist 
the  innovations  or  injustice  of  the  other.  How  far  our  commerce 
is  likely  to  be  fostered  by  the  hand  which  has  nearly  crushed  it, 
or  our  rights  attended  to  by  the  power  which  has  annihilated 
them,  it  is  not  necessary  to  be  commented  upon.  I  beg  my 
countrymen  not  to  suppose,  that  I  think  the  measure  is  a  good 
one;  no,  but  I  know  it  to  be  inevitable,  I  beg  them  not  to  sup- 
pose that  I  place  the  smallest  reliance,  on  the  promises  of  equity, 
and  disinterestedness  of  the  Minister.  No,  but  I  know  that  we 
cannot  either  reject  the  measure,  or  insist  on  the  performance  of 
the  treaty;  I  know  that  our  part  of  it  will  be  signed  and  most 
strictly  performed,  and  that  the  English  part  of  it  will  be  filled 
up,  how  and  when  it  suits  the  Minister. 

"/  would  beg  the  people  to  remember  that  it  is  the  wish  of  the 
Minister  to  have  them  in  a  state  of  insurrection  that  he  may  have  a 
pretext  for  this  measure;  it  was  his  wish  to  have  them  driven  into 
insurrection  before  j  it  was  his  comtnand  to  goad  them  itito  it  j  and 
hence  the  system  of  unparalleled  cruelties  which  we  have  tvitnessed. ' 

"  It  was  equally  the  wish  of  the  friends  of  the  country,  to  keep 
the  People  from  commotion,  as  it  was  that  of  the  Minister  to 
bring  them  to  it. 

"  Insurrection  has  been  one  of  the  favourites  of  that  man 
(Pitt);  he  has  tried  it  in  France;  he  has  attempted  it  in  Hol- 
land; and  he  effected  it  in  Ireland — steering  wide,  in  his  political 
career,  of  every  principle  of  avowed  and  understood  policy;  he 
astonishes  and  awes, — bewilders  and  leads  a  fascinated  people. 
Minister  of  England,  you  are  a  great  man !  while  I  detest  your 
principles  and  deprecate  your  measures,  I  admit  your  abilities! — 
for  fifteen  years  you  have  ruled  Great  Britain — you  have  con- 
verted a  fluctuating  and  delicate  situation,  into  a  certain  and 

'  England  has  always  pursued  this  policy  to  gain  a  pretext  for  some  measure 
by  which  she  alone  would  be  benefited.  In  the  near  future  she  will  attempt 
to  force  an  outbreak  in  Ireland  by  some  coercion  act,  that  she  may  reduce  the 
number  of  Irish  members  to  Parliament,  the  only  provision  of  the  Act  of  the 
Union  which  has  not  been  abrogated. 


Brutality  of  Irish  Parliament  to  Irishmen  221 

critical  one. — You  have  blinded  a  selfish  nation  to  their  own 
interest,  and  led  them  on  to  their  own  destruction. — You  have 
paralyzed,  or  energized  all  Europe.  You  have  sent  Liberty  to 
the  Asiatic  and  the  Indian.  You  have  persecuted  the  spirit,  and 
the  genius  has  arisen  to  avenge  the  persecution — wherever  the 
fetters  of  slavery  have  gone,  the  Genius  of  Emancipation  has 
followed —  You  have  conceived  uncommon  designs —  You 
have  attempted  them,  and  they  have  failed —  Man  of  immeasur- 
able talents,  why  have  you  not  learnt  that  rectitude  would  have 
assisted  you ! — why  has  not  your  policy  taught  you  sometimes  to 
appear  to  feel  like  a  man — and  why  has  not  your  reason  detected 
the  fallacy  of  your  crooked  policy!  For  fifteen  years  you  have 
held  the  helm  of  Britain,  you  have  ruled  her  with  an  undivided 
and  absolute  authority — you  have  ruled  her  ill — you  have  been 
to  England  a  bad  Minister — to  Ireland  a  destroying  spirit — pass- 
ing over  the  land  with  devastation,  sparing  only  those  whose 
thresholds  were  ma7-ked  with  Mood.  You  have  fought  to  pre- 
cipitate her  into  a  gulph  which  you  have  formed  for  England, 
and  you  have  overwhelmed  her  in  chaos  and  confusion — whether 
to  Ireland  is  to  rise  light  out  of  darkness,  and  order  from  discord; 
yet  remains  with  that  Providence,  whose  inscrutable  wisdom 
works  good  out  of  evil,  and  often  makes  the  crimes  of  men  the 
instruments  of  good  to  the  species." 

Miss  Emmet  in  another  article,  addressed  to  Parliament, 
stated  • : 

"  In  common  with  most  of  my  countrymen,  I  have  looked  with 
indifference  to  the  adoption  or  rejection  of  an  Union,  And  in 
common  with  them,  I  now  feel  the  utmost  alarm  and  anxiety  at 
the  proposal  of  that  bill,  which  is,  I  find,  to  precede  and  ensure 
the  hopes  that  you  would  reject  this  measure,  from  the  conviction 
that  it  preceded  an  Union.  If  I  did  not  know  that  its  name  and 
tenor,  will  ensure  it  many  partisans,  even  among  the  opposers  of 
the  Union — if  I  did  not  know,  that  Parliament  has  been  in  the 
habit  of  adopting  measures  of  coercion,  without  considering 
whether  they  were  necessary,  or  whether  they  must  not  be  in- 

'  A  Letter  to  the  Irish  Parliament  on  the  Intended  Bill  for  Loyalizing  Mili- 
tary Law,  with  the  motto,  "  There  is  no  sure  foundation  set  on  blood."  Dub- 
lin, 1799,  p.  15. 


222  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

jurious —  You  had  a  system  of  coercion  handed  down  to  you 
from  your  forefathers;  you  have  enlarged  it — what  has  been  the 
result?  Has  peace  arisen  from  persecution,  or  content  from  op- 
pression?—  No;  the  people  have  groaned  under  the  oppression 
— they  have  writhed  under,  and  resisted  the  persecution.  You 
have  seen  them  discontented — have  you  removed  the  grievances? 
You  have  enacted  new  laws,  each  more  oppressive  than  the  last; 
you  have  driven  them  from  discontent,  to  rebellion.  Ignorance 
and  superstition  were  receding  from  your  land — you  have  recalled 
them;  you  have  made  them  the  inheritance  of  Irishmen;  you 
have  sought  to  make  them  their  only  birthright.  But  have  you 
ever  tried  conciliation;  have  you  ever  attempted  amelioration? — 
Never.  From  the  first  moment  that  an  English  foot  prest  this 
ground,  to  the  present,  the  system  has  been  a  system  of  cruelty, 
untinged  with  mercy.  I  much  fear  that  the  period  for  Parliament 
to  assert  its  independence,  is  past;  I  fear  that  Parliament  has 
formed  the  tomb  of  its  own  independence,  and  the  liberty  of  the 
country.  An  independent  Parliament  cannot  exist  in  an  enslaved 
country;  the  liberties  of  one,  and  the  independence  of  the  other, 
must  exist  or  expire  together.  But  if  your  wishes,  or  your  mis- 
guided policy,  shall  induce  you  to  continue  the  system  of  devas- 
tation; if  you  determine  still  to  increase,  and  never  to  diminish 
the  sufferings  of  your  countrymen;  you  must  indeed  exterminate 
— you  must  destroy,  not  simply  four  hundred  thousand  men,  you 
must  destroy  four  millions  of  people — you  must  annihilate  not 
only  the  present,  but  the  growing  generation.  You  must  sweep 
off  the  earth,  not  Irishmen  alone,  but  Irishwomen  and  Irish  chil- 
dren! It  is  not  enough  that  you  tear  the  father  from  his  family! 
the  man  from  his  country !  if  you  leave  the  wife  to  weep  for  her 
husband,  the  children  to  lament  their  father;  you  leave  increasing 
enemies  to  oppression;  you  add  to  the  spirit  of  patriotism,  the 
desire  of  vengeance.  Will  the  woman  whose  husband  has  been 
torn  from  her,  forget  how  she  has  been  deprived  of  him?  Will 
she  not  seek  revenge?  Too  surely  she  will — she  will  support  her 
misery,  in  the  hope  of  retribution ;  she  will  teach  it  to  her  chil- 
dren; she  will  entail  it  on  them  with  her  blessing — and  when  the 
moment  arrives  to  seek  this  vengeance,  she  will  nerve  the  arm  of 
her  son,  and  animate  his  heart,  by  the  recital  of  his  father's 
sufferings,  and  his  father's  fate.     The  woman  will  forget  that  she 


Hopeless  Appeal  to  Patriotism         223 

is  a  mother,  in  remembrance  that  she  is  no  longer  a  wife!  and 
the  tears  of  maternal  affection,  suppressed  by  the  remembrance 
of  unavenged  injuries;  she  will,  with  the  unmoistened  eye  of 
corroded  despair,  send  her  only  hope  into  the  field  of  danger,  to 
seek  revenge.  Will  the  boy  forget  that  his  father  loved  liberty? 
Will  he  not  learn  to  love  it  too?  He  will  imbibe  the  love  of  it 
with  his  mother's  milk — he  will  enhale  it  from  her  sighs;  it  will 
be  consecrated  by  her  tears — his  young  and  feeble  hand  will 
grasp  the  engine  of  liberty  and  vengeance;  his  beating  heart,  and 
fervid  imagination  anticipate  the  moment  of  resistance — and  to 
repress  oppression,  and  to  seek  liberty  will  seem  a  duty,  not  less 
imposed  by  filial  affection,  than  by  patriotism. 

"Pause,  I  beseech  you,  before  you  sign  the  mandate  of  de- 
struction; before  you  commit  yourselves  against  your  country; 
before  you  entail  on  your  children  the  curses  of  your  countrymen. 
If  penal  laws  are  to  restore  peace,  are  there  not  enough 
of  them?  Have  you  not  one  for  every  offence  that  can  be  com- 
mitted, or  imagined?  Have  you  not  six  of  your  own  creating? 
But  they  have  proved  insufficient  to  tranquillize  a  distracted 
country;  they  have  irritated  and  inflamed  the  public  mind — you 
know  this;  you  feel  this;  but  instead  of  repeating,  or  correcting 
those  avowed  sources  of  public  discontent;  you  enact  a  new  one, 
more  grievous,  more  oppressive,  than  any  which  at  present  exists. 

"And  if  this  measure  passes,  it  will  indeed  be  your  last  act  as 
a  Legislative  Body — for  as  to  the  Union,  it  is  not  to  be  considered 
as  your  measure;  you  would  oppose  it  if  you  could;  you  will 
accept  it,  because  you  must — to  you  therefore  does  not  attach 
any  of  the  responsibility  of  that,  farther  than  as  your  previous 
conduct  has  enabled  the  Minister  to  force  it.  '  *  A  little  time,  and 
you  will  not  have  the  power  either  to  injure  or  serve  that  devoted 
country —  Oh  yet  leave  it  something,  for  which  it  may  learn  not 
to  curse  your  duration,  and  rejoice  in  your  extinction — let  your 
last  act  be  rather  an  act  of  mercy  than  of  cruelty ;  so  may  your 
memory  be  hallowed  by  the  forgiveness  and  regret  of  your  country 
— if  your  Parliamentary  career  is  over,  do  not  let  its  termination  be 
marked  by  cruelty — if  the  legislative  sun  of  this  horizon  is  to  set 
forever,  do  not  make  it  set  in  blood — let  its  last  rays  shine  with  the 
purified  brightness  of  penitent  conciliation;  let  its  last  beams 
diffuse  vivifying  warmth,  which  its  meridian  splendor  denied." 


CHAPTER  XIII 

BILL  FOR  THE  "UNION"  PROPOSED — EFFORT  TO  GET  A 
MAJORITY  IN  PARLIAMENT  —  PEOPLE  OPPOSED,  PETI- 
TIONS SUPPRESSED  —  MARTIAL  LAW  DECLARED  — 
PEOPLE  UNABLE  TO  MEET  FOR  CONSULTATION  — 
BILL  CARRIED  BY  BRIBERY  AND  WITH  IRISH  MONEY, 
THE  PEOPLE  NOT  BEING  A  PARTY  THERETO 

The  "Rebellion"  of  1798  is  considered  to  have  com- 
menced on  the  23d  of  May,  shortly  after  the  arrest  of  all 
the  leaders  and  when  Wexford  rose  as  one  man  in  conse- 
quence of  the  atrocities  committed  by  the  Orangeman  yeo- 
manry quartered  upon  them,  who  were  sent  there  to  effect 
that  end. 

On  the  22d  of  January,  1799,  the  Bill  for  the  Union  was 
first  proposed  by  the  Government  and  the  proposition  was 
rejected  by  the  Irish  House  of  Commons. 

Newenham  states ' : 

"Petitions  from  the  freeholds  of  twenty-six  counties  out  of 
thirty-two,  were  presented  against  the  Union  in  February  in 
1800;  accompanied  by  petitions  of  the  freemen,  electors,  mer- 
chants, &c.  of  ten  towns,  including  Dublin,  Cork,  Limerick, 
Waterford,  Drogheda  and  Newry,  These  petitions,  which  then 
appeared  without  any  of  an  opposite  nature,  except  from  the 
counties  of  Monaghan  and  Down,  from  whence  petitions  against 
the  Union  had  also  been  transmitted,  proved,  beyond  the  possi- 
bility of  a  doubt,  that  the  measure  was  peculiarly  repugnant  to 
the  wishes  of  the  people  of  Ireland." 

1  P.  276. 
224 


Castlereagh  Openly  Bribes  Parliament  225 

Pitt  then  instructed  Lord  Cornwallis  not  to  press  the 
measure  until  he  was  certain  the  Government  would  have  a 
majority  of  fifty  votes.  Every  expedient  was  resorted  to 
during  a  recess  of  Parliament  for  the  purpose  of  gaining  a 
majority  of  the  votes  by  bribery, 

Barrington  states  * : 

"Lord  Castlereagh 's  first  object  was  to  introduce  into  the 
House,  by  means  of  the  '  Place  Bill,'  a  sufificient  number  of  de- 
pendents to  balance  all  opposition.  He  then  boldly  announced 
his  intention  to  turn  the  scale,  by  bribes  to  all  who  would  accept 
them,  under  the  name  of  compensation  for  the  loss  of  patronage 
and  interest.  He  publicly  declared,  first  that  every  nobleman 
who  returned  members  to  Parliament  should  be  paid,  in  cash 
fifteen  thousand  pounds  for  every  member  so  returned:  secondly, 
that  every  member  who  hz.^  purchased  a  seat  in  Parliament  should 
have  his  purchase  money  repaid  to  him,  by  the  Treasury  of  Ire- 
land; thirdly,  that  all  members  of  Parliament,  or  others,  who 
were  losers  by  the  Union,  should  be  fully  recompensed  for  their 
losses,  and  that  o?ie  million,  five  hundred  thousand  pounds  should  be 
devoted  to  this  service;  in  other  terms,  all  who  supported  his 
measure  were,  under  some  pretence  or  other,  to  share  in  this 
bank  of  Corruption. 

"A  declaration  so  flagitious  and  treasonable  was  never  publicly 
made  in  any  country;  but  it  had  a  powerful  effect  in  his  favour; 
and,  before  the  meeting  of  Parliament,  he  had  secured  a  small 
majority,  of  eight  above  a  moiety  of  the  numbers,  and  he  cour- 
ageously persisted. 

"After  the  debate  on  the  Union  in  1800,  he  performed  his 
promise,  and  brought  4.n  a  Bill  to  raise  one  million  and  a  half 
of  money  upon  the  Irish  people,  nominally  to  compensate,  but 
really  to  bribe  their  representatives,  for  betraying  their  honour 
and  selling  their  country. 

"  A  King,  bound  by  the  principles  of  the  British  Constitution, 
giving  his  sacred  and  voluntary  fiat  to  a  Bill  to  levy  taxes  for  the 
compensation  of  members  of  Parliament,  for  their  loss  of  the 
opportunities  of  selling  what  it  was  criminal  to  sell  or  purchase, 
could  scarcely  be  believed  by  the  British  people! 

« Pp.  434-436. 


226  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

"  There  were  times  when  Mr.  Pitt  would  have  lost  his  head  for 
a  tithe  of  his  Government  in  Ireland;  Strafford  was  an  angel  com- 
pared to  that  celebrated  statesman." 

As  we  have  seen,  Mr.  Emmet  stated  that  some  thirty  per- 
sons could  command  a  majority  vote  in  the  Irish  House  of 
Commons  and,  so  far  as  is  known,  the  million  and  a  half 
pounds  sterling  went  direct  to  about  thirty-four  individuals. 
Of  this  sum  Lord  Shannon  was  paid  fifty-five  thousand 
pounds,  with  other  compensation,  for  his  patronage  of  seven 
seats.  The  Marquis  of  Ely  or  Lord  (Viscount)  Loftus  also 
obtained  forty-five  thousand  pounds,  with  something  in  addi- 
tion, for  his  influence  with  nine  votes.  Lord  Clanmorris  was 
made  a  Peer  and  was  paid  twenty-three  thousand  pounds  cash 
for  his  influence.  Altogether  there  were  about  twenty  lords  * 
who  had  the  patronage  of  naming  and  returning  members  to 
the  House  of  Commons  and  all  received  fifteen  thousand 
pounds  sterling  with  positions  and  titles  in  addition. 

Barrington  writes  * : 

' '  The  English  people  .  .  .  will  scarcely  believe  that  all 
the  arts,  the  money,  the  titles,  the  ofifaces,  the  bribes,  their  Min- 
ister could  bestow,  all  the  influence  he  possessed,  all  the  patronage 
he  could  grant,  all  the  promises  he  could  make,  all  the  threats  he 
could  use,  all  the  terrors  he  could  excite,  all  the  deprivations  he 
could  inflict,  could  seduce  or  warp  away  scarcely  more  than  a 
half  of  the  members  of  the  Irish  Commons,  from  their  duty  to 
their  country,  and  that  on  the  question  of  annexation  by  union, 
his  utmost  efforts  could  not  influence  more  than  eight  above  the 
moiety  of  their  number;  yet  with  only  158  ^  out  of  300,  which  in 
England  would  be  considered  a  defeat,  he  persevered  and  effected 
the  extinguishment  of  the  legislature,  a  majority,  which  on  any 
important  question  would  have  cashiered  a  British  Minister.  Yet 
such  was  the  fact  in  Ireland;  and  the  division  of  the  5th  and  6th 

'  Of  whom,  with  their  confreres,  Grattan,  to  express  his  contempt,  said 
they  were  ' '  only  fit  to  carry  good  claret  to  a  p6t  de  chambre  !  " 

^  P.  430. 

*  Grattan  was  of  the  opinion  (as  stated  in  his  Life)  that  all  had  been  bribed 
who  voted  for  the  Union,  with  the  exception  of  seven  members. 


Grattan's  Last  Appeal  227 

of  February,  1800,  on  the  Union,  will  remain  an  eternal  record 
of  the  unrivalled  incorruptible  purity  of  115  members  of  that 
Parliament." 

We  will  now  attempt  to  trace  the  progress  of  the  bill  after 
its  introduction  by  Castlereagh  to  establish  the  Union. 

After  an  all-night  session  and  the  first  vote  not  yet 
taken  Mr.  Grattan,  who  had  just  been  returned  as  a  member 
and  was  now  an  invalid,  was  assisted  into  the  House  at  seven 
o'clock  in  the  morning  that  he  might  offer  his  protest.  No 
man  had  been  more  active  than  he  in  1782  in  establish- 
ing Ireland's  independence  and,  although  it  was  about  to 
be  lost  through  a  corrupt  Parliament,  of  all  men  in  Irelarld 
it  was  fitting  that  Grattan  should  offer  the  last  protest. 

Barrington  thus  describes  the  scene ' : 

"As  he  feebly  tottered  into  the  House,  every  member  simul- 
taneously rose  from  his  seat.  He  moved  slowly  from  the  table; 
his  languid  countenance  seemed  to  revive  as  he  took  those  oaths 
that  restored  him  to  his  pre-eminent  station ;  the  smile  of  inward 
satisfaction  obviously  illumined  his  features,  and  reanimation  and 
energy  seemed  to  kindle  by  the  labor  of  his  mind.  The  House 
was  silent;  Mr.  Egan  did  not  resume  his  speech;  Mr.  Grattan, 
almost  breathless,  as  if  by  instinct,  attempted  to  rise,  but  was 
unable  to  stand ;  he  paused  and  with  difficulty  requested  the  per- 
mission of  the  House  to  deliver  his  sentiments  without  moving 
from  his  seat.  This  was  acceded  to  by  acclamation,  and  he  who 
had  left  his  bed  of  sickness  to  record,  as  he  thought,  his  last 
words  in  the  Parliament  of  his  country,  kindled  gradually  till  his 
language  glowed  with  an  energy  and  feeling  which  he  had  seldom 
surpassed.  After  nearly  two  hours  of  the  most  powerful  elo- 
quence, he  concluded  with  an  undiminished  vigour,  miraculous 
to  those  who  were  unacquainted  with  his  intellect. 

"  Never  did  a  speech  make  more  affecting  impression,  but  it 
came  too  late.  Fate  had  decreed  the  fall  of  Ireland,  and  her 
patriot  came  only  to  witness  her  overthrow.  For  two  hours  he 
recapitulated  all  the  pledges  that  England  had  made  and  had 
broken,  he  went  through  the  great  events  from  1780  to  1800, 

'  P.  442. 


228  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

proved  the  more  than  treachery  which  has  been  practiced  toivards 
the  Irish  people.  He  had  concluded,  and  the  question  was  loudly 
called  for." 

Barrington  continues  ' : 

"  The  day  of  extinguishing  the  liberties  of  Ireland  had  now- 
arrived,  and  the  sun  took  his  last  view  of  independent  Ireland, 
he  rose  no  more  over  a  proud  and  prosperous  nation;  she  was 
now  condemned,  by  the  British  Minister,  to  renounce  her  rank 
among  the  States  of  Europe,  she  was  sentenced  to  cancel  her 
constitution,  to  disband  her  Commons,  and  disfranchise  her  no- 
bility, to  proclaim  her  incapacity,  and  register  her  corruption  in 
the  records  of  the  empire.  On  this  fatal  event,  some,  whose 
honesty  the  tempter  could  not  destroy,  some  whose  honour 
he  durst  not  assail,  and  many  who  could  not  control  the  useless 
language  of  indignation,  prudently  withdrew  from  a  scene  where 
they  would  have  witnessed  only  the  downfall  of  their  country, 

"The  Commons  House  of  Parliament  on  the  last  evening 
afforded  the  most  melancholy  example  of  a  fine  independent 
people,  betrayed,  divided,  sold,  and,  as  a  State,  annihilated. 
British  clerks  and  officers  were  smuggled  into  her  Parliament  to 
vote  away  the  constitution  of  a  country  to  which  they  were 
strangers,  and  in  which  they  had  neither  interest  nor  connection. 
They  were  employed  to  cancel  the  royal  charter  of  the  Irish 
Nation,  guaranteed  by  the  British  Government,  sanctioned  by  the 
British  legislature,  and  unequivocally  confirmed  by  the  words,  the 
signature,  and  the  great  seal  of  their  monarch. 

"  The  situation  of  the  Speaker  (Rt.  Hon.  John  Foster)  on  that 
night,  was  of  the  most  distressing  nature ;  a  sincere  and  ardent 
enemy  of  the  measure,  he  headed  its  opponents;  he  resisted  it 
with  all  the  power  of  his  mind,  the  resources  of  his  experience, 
his  influence  and  his  eloquence. 

"At  length  the  expected  moment  arrived,  the  order  of  the  day 
for  the  third  reading  of  the  Bill,  for  a  '  Legislative  Union  between 
Great  Britain  and  Ireland,'  was  moved  by  Lord  Castlereagh,  un- 
varied, tame,  cold  blooded,  the  words  seemed  frozen  as  they 
issued  from  his  lips;  and,  as  if  a  simple  citizen  of  the  world,  he 

'  Pp.  457-460. 


The  ''Union"  is  Carried  229 

seemed  to  have  no  sensation  on  the  subject.  ...  At  that 
moment  he  had  no  country,  no  god  but  his  ambition;  he  made 
his  motion,  and  resumed  his  seat,  with  the  utmost  composure  and 
indifference. 

' '  The  Speaker  rose  slowly  from  that  chair  which  had  been  the 
proud  source  of  his  honours  and  of  his  high  character;  for  a  mo- 
ment he  resumed  his  seat,  but  the  strength  of  his  mind  sustained 
him  in  his  duty,  though  his  struggle  was  apparent.  With  that 
dignity  which  never  failed  to  signalize  his  official  actions,  he  held 
up  the  Bill  for  a  moment  in  silence;  he  looked  steadily  around 
him  on  the  last  agony  of  the  expiring  Parliament.  He  at  length 
repeated,  in  an  emphatic  tone :  '  As  many  as  are  of  the  opinion 
that  this  bill  do  pass,  say  aye.'  The  affirmative  was  languid  but 
indisputable;  another  momentary  pause  ensued,  again  his  lips 
seemed  to  decline  their  office:  at  length,  with  an  eye  averted 
from  the  object  which  he  hated,  he  proclaimed,  in  a  subdued 
voice:  'The  Ayes  have  it.'  The  fatal  sentence  was  now  pro- 
nounced, for  an  instant  he  stood  statue-like;  then  indignantly, 
and  with  disgust,  flung  the  Bill  upon  the  table,  and  sank  into  his 
chair  with  an  exhausted  spirit.  An  independent  country  was 
thus  degraded  into  a  province,  Ireland  as  a  nation,  was  ex- 
tinguished. ' ' 

If  the  concomitant  circumstances  be  taken  into  considera- 
tion,— the  frightful  loss  of  life  and  suffering  of  the  Irish 
people,  the  course  of  deception,  lying  and  misrepresentation 
to  which  they  were  subjected,  the  total  disregard  of  all  sense 
of  honesty,  political  obligation  and  pledged  faith  on  the 
part  of  the  English  Government,  during  the  fifteen  years  or 
more  in  which  Pitt  was  preparing  the  way  for  perpetrat- 
ing this  crime, — history  does  not  present  an  example  parallel 
in  iniquity  with  the  accomplishment  of  the  so-termed  Union 
of  Ireland  with  England. 

After  the  Irish  people  had  been  crushed  they  were  at 
length  so  exhausted  and  so  discouraged  that  in  despair  the 
Act  of  the  Union  was  quietly  accepted,  almost  with  a  feel- 
ing of  gratitude  towards  the  Government  for  the  death- 
like rest  which  afterwards  came  upon  the  country.     This 


230  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

condition  was  exactly  what  the  Government  intended  to 
produce  when  it  encouraged  and  urged  the  perpetration  of 
the  horrid  crimes  and  torture  which  have  been  described. 

The  English  Government  accomplished  with  Irish  money 
this  fraud  to  which  the  Irish  people  were  not  a  party  and  it 
was  done  to  enrich  the  English  people  and  to  gain  the  power 
necessary  to  crush  out  the  prosperity  of  the  Irish  race. 

Honest  people  in  England  might  well  lower  their  heads  in 
shame  could  they  know  the  truth — for  in  justice  it  must  be 
said  that,  as  individuals,  there  exists  a  natural  love  of  fair 
play  among  these  people,  even  to  the  most  brutal  prize- 
fighter. Yet  no  one,  with  the  slightest  knowledge  of  the 
truth,  dare  deny  the  fact  that  the  "Union  "  was  at  length 
effected,  through  the  influence  of  the  English  Government, 
by  bribery,  by  corruption  and  by  every  immoral  means  which 
has  ever  been  hidden  under  the  term  "State-Craft  "  !  * 

So  openly  was  the  crime  committed  and  so  hopeless 
seemed  the  future  that  what  was  deemed  the  inevitable  was 
submitted  to  with  silent  grief. 

The  following  pathetic  lines  which  are  attributed  to  Dr. 
William  Brennan,  of  Dublin,  must  have  been  an  echo  from 
the  suppressed  wail  which  burst  forth  from  the  people  in 
that  dark  hour.  It  is  said  that  these  lines  first  appeared  in 
print  on  the  morning  of  the  official  announcement  that 
the  "Union  "  had  been  brought  about  by  the  votes  of  the 
so-called  Irish  Parliament,  every  member  of  which  who 
favored  the  measure,  it  was  claimed,  had  been  bribed. 

"  O  Ireland!  my  country,  the  hour 

Of  thy  pride  and  thy  splendor  hath  passed 
And  the  chain  which  was  spurned  in  thy  moment  of  power 
Hangs  heavy  around  thee  at  last. 

*  Mr.  O'Donnell  in  his  speech  against  the  Union  aptly  applied  the  words  of 
the  fifty-fifth  Psalm  (English  version) :  "  Wickedness  is  therein  ;  deceit  and 
guile  go  not  out  of  their  streets.  For  it  is  not  my  open  enemy  that  hath  done 
this  dishonor,  for  then  I  could  have  borne  it.  Neither  was  it  mine  adversary 
that  did  magnify  himself  against  me,  for  then  peradventure  I  could  have  hid 
myself  from  him.  But  it  was  even  thou,  my  companion,  my  guide,  and  my 
own  familiar  friend  !  " 


Ireland's  Money  Used  in  Bribery       231 

There  are  marks  in  the  fate  of  each  clime; 

There  are  turns  in  the  future  of  men ; 
But  the  changes  of  realms  and  the  changes  of  time 

Shall  never  restore  thee  again. 
Thou  art  chained  to  the  foot  of  thy  foe 

By  links  that  the  world  cannot  sever; 
With  thy  tyrants  thro'  storms  and  thro'  calms  thou  shalt  go; 

And  thy  sentence  is — Bondage  forever! 
Thou  art  doomed  for  the  thankless  to  toil; 

Thou  art  left  for  the  proud  to  disdain ; 
And  the  blood  of  thy  sons,  and  the  wealth  of  thy  soil, 

Shall  be  lavished  and  wasted  in  vain. 
Thy  riches  with  taunts  shall  be  taken ; 

Thy  valor  with  coldness  repaid, 
And  of  millions  who  see  thee  thus  lone  and  forsaken, 

Not  one  shall  stand  forth  in  thine  aid. 
Among  nations  thy  place  is  left  void; 

Thou  art  lost  in  the  list  of  the  free ; 
Even  plague-stricken  land,  or  by  earthquakes  destroyed, 

May  arise — but  no  hope  is  for  thee!  " 

The  amount  of  Irish  money  spent  by  the  agents  of  Pitt 
to  bring  about  the  "Union  "  will  in  all  probability  never  be 
known.  An  interesting  study,  however,  presents  itself  in 
tracing  the  subsequent  history  of  each  member  of  the  Irish 
Parliament  who  voted  in  favor  of  the  Union.  Each  doubt- 
less received  a  pecuniary  reward  and  many  titles  as  well  as 
official  position  to  secure  the  promise  of  his  vote.  As  to 
the  amount  no  positive  information  can  be  obtained,  but  it 
is  due  to  the  English  Government  to  note  the  fact  that, 
while  every  vote  necessary  was  gained  through  corruption, 
each  individual  was  fully  cared  for  afterwards,  as  will  be 
shown  by  the  "Black  List"  compiled  by  Barrington *  and 
reprinted  in  the  Appendix." 

Barrington  states  in  this  connection : 

"It  is  evident  beyond  all  contradiction  that  of  those  who  had 
in  1799,  successfully  opposed  the  Union,  or  had  declared  against 
*  P.  466.  ^See  Appendix,  note  17. 


232  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

it,  Lord  Castlereagh  palpably  purchased  tiverity-five  before  the 
second  discussion  in  1800  which  made  a  difference  of  fifty  votes 
in  favour  of  Government;  and  it  is  therefore  equally  evident, 
that  by  the  public  and  actual  bribery  of  those  twenty-five  mem- 
bers, and  not  by  any  change  of  opinion  in  the  country,  or  any 
fair  or  honest  majority  Mr.  Pitt  and  his  instruments  carried  the 
Union  in  the  Commons  House  of  Parliament." 

The  noted  Irish  scholar,  Very  Rev.  John,  Canon  O' Han- 
Ion,  of  Dublin,  thus  reviews  the  situation  ' : 

"  The  wily  machinations  of  William  Pitt,  who  especially  hated 
Ireland,  aided  by  his  subservient  creatures  in  the  Irish  administra- 
tion, began  the  realization  of  a  long-formed  project  for  extinguish- 
ing the  legislature,  and  the  right  of  Ireland  to  self-government. 
His  tortuous  and  malign  policy  was  exerted  to  undermine  the 
fabric  of  independence  already  reared;  to  introduce  insidious 
commercial  propositions  restricting  trade  enterprise ;  to  disappoint 
the  hopes  of  Irish  Catholics  for  Emancipation ;  to  adopt  arbitrary 
and  atrocious  measures,  executed  by  unprincipled  and  corrupt 
officials,  charged  with  absolute  and  despotic  governmental  powers. 
These  proceedings  fostered  party  spirit,  and  led  to  a  sanguinary 
rebellion  in  1798.  Through  the  most  unscrupulous  of  the  instru- 
ments. Lords  Clare  and  Castlereagh,  and  through  the  most 
shameless  corruption,  that  measure  for  a  legislative  union  of 
Great  Britain  and  Ireland  came  before  both  of  their  Parliaments 
in  1799. 

'  Introduction  to  Essay  on  the  Antiquity  and  Constitution  of  Parliatnents  in 
Ireland,  by  Henry  Joseph  Monck  Mason,  etc..  with  Preface,  Life  of  the 
Author  and  an  Introduction  by  the  Very  Rev,  John,  Canon  O'Hanlon,  Dublin, 
l8gi,  p.  125.  This  Uttle  work  is  particularly  recommended  to  the  student  of 
Irish  history,  as  it  contains  a  most  remarkable  and  exhaustive  treatment  of 
the  subject  in  relation  to  the  sovereignty  of  the  Kingdom  of  Ireland.  This 
sovereignty  England  never  dared  to  ignore  from  a  legal  standpoint  during  the 
whole  time  from  Henry  II.  to  the  passage  of  the  Act  for  the  so-called  Union, 
notwithstanding  that  country  frequently  usurped  the  power.  It  is  shown  that 
the  passage  of  the  Act  of  the  Union  by  the  votes  of  those  who  had  not  the 
right  to  act  rendered  it  illegal  and  that  consequently  the  sovereignty  of  the 
Kingdom  of  Ireland  has  not  been  rightfully  impaired.  See  also,  Sir  Charles 
Coote's  History  of  the  Union  of  the  Kingdom  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland, 
chaps,  i,  and  ii.,  London,  1802. 


Castlereagh  Stifles  the  People's  Voice   233 

"  This  motion  was  defeated  by  a  narrow  majority  in  the  Irish 
House  of  Commons,  and  it  had  to  be  abandoned  for  that  session. 
However,  having  effectively  exercised  the  power  of 
bribery  and  cajolery  among  the  venal  representatives  who  were 
gained  over  during  that  recess,  the  measure  was  again  prepared; 
yet,  veiled  under  a  vague  speech  from  the  throne,  on  the  15th 
January,  1800,  and  in  which  no  allusion  was  made  to  the  govern- 
ment project.  But  when  an  amendment,  affirming  a  resolution 
to  maintain  the  Constitution  of  1782,  as  also  to  support  the  na- 
tional freedom  and  independence,  was  defeated,  Lord  Castle- 
reagh, the  Irish  Secretary,  finding  his  efforts  had  now  secured 
the  object  in  view,  pressed  the  measure  of  legislative  union  to  its 
final  and  disastrous  issue.  It  passed  both  houses  in  the  course 
of  that  year. 

"  The  vastly  greater  majority  of  the  Irish  people — while  among 
these  are  particularly  included  Protestants  and  even  Orangemen 
— were  united  in  opposition  to  the  extinction  of  their  native  Par- 
liament. However,  when  they  attempted  to  give  public  and 
constitutional  expression  to  their  protests,  meetings  were  almost 
everywhere  suppressed  by  the  arbitrary  government  of  the  time. 
Terrorism  and  deception  were  alternately  and  simultaneously 
employed  to  silence  opposition  or  remonstrance  from  without. 
Corruption  and  seduction  were  shamelessly  tried  within  the 
Houses  of  Lords  and  Commons,  already  filled  with  placemen, 
pensioners  and  traders  in  the  sale  of  boroughs.  After  some  ad- 
justments in  the  British  and  Irish  Parliaments,  the  Act  of  a  Legis- 
lative Union  and  its  articles  of  a  treaty  were  proclaimed  to  the 
Irish  nation,  on  the  first  day  of  January,  1801. 

"  Robbed  of  their  rights,  which  the  people  had  neither  the  will 
nor  the  power  to  surrender,  never  from  that  time  to  the  present 
have  the  Irish  ratified  or  acquiesced  in  the  measure  for  an  in- 
corporating union.  On  the  contrary,  their  protests,  complaints, 
and  agitations  are  on  record,  every  year  since  the  commencement 
of  this  century  and  daily  are  they  growing  in  intensity  and  im- 
patience. They  well  understand,  that  the  Act  of  Union  has  not 
conferred  a  single  direct  benefit,  while  it  has  inflicted  innumerable 
evils,  upon  Ireland.  ...  It  has  driven  millions  of  the  Irish 
race  into  distant  countries,  to  gain  that  substance  abroad  which 
has  been  denied  them  at  home,  and  with  bitter  memories  of  the 


234  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

national  injury  perpetrated,  to  be  imparted  likewise  as  an  inherit- 
ance to  their  posterity.  Public  opinion,  which  is  only  another 
expression  for  the  public  conscience,  imperatively  demanded  a 
restitution  in  full  measure  for  the  gross  injustice  perpetrated,  and 
the  rights  which  have  been  subjected  to  such  sha^neful  violation." 

Newenham,  who  was  in  favor  of  the  Union  of  Ireland 
with  England,  wrote  some  six  years  after ' : 

"  Indeed  the  people  of  Ireland  may  be  said  to  have  been  de- 
barred from  the  enjoyment  of  their  political  birthright  ever  since 
that  event;  and  to  have  been  exposed  to,  what,  it  must  be  owned, 
they  did  not  often  feel,  the  rigours  of  military  despotism. 
Finally,  the  rebellion  effectually  prepared  the  way  for  a  disad- 
vantageous and  inequitable  legislative  union  with  Britain;  a 
measure  which  could  never  have  been  accomplished  without  it; 
and  which  many  of  the  supporters  of  that  measure  now  lament." 

' P.  275. 


CHAPTER   XIV 

HISTORY  OF  THE  "  UNION  " — THE  MEN  WHO  CARRIED  OUT 
PITT'S   INSTRUCTIONS   AND   THEIR   METHODS 

Battersby  '  briefly  presents  a  history  of  the  "  Union  " 
between  England  and  Ireland,  He  begins  with  the  query 
"  W/io  suggested  the  Union  ?  "  and  continues : 

"  Had  the  Union  been  suggested  by  Irishmen,  who  had  the 
interest  of  their  country  at  heart ;  had  they  found  that  English 
statesmen  were  more  and  more  inclined  to  do  it  full  justice,  *  not 
in  word  but  in  deed  and  truth  'y  and  were  they  convinced  that  the 
Union  would  have  given  the  legislature  greater  power  to  do  good 
for  Ireland,  to  have  diminished  the  Absentees,  increased  her  agri- 
culture, manufacture  and  commerce,  and  bettered  the  condition 
of  the  people  at  large,  then  indeed  we  might  attribute  to  unforeseen 
circumstances,  and  not  to  premeditated  malice,  whatever  evils 
subsequently  followed  this  fatal  measure.  But  if  we  find  it  sug- 
gested by  English  statesmen  and  others,  who  designed  to  make 
use  of  this  Union,  only  to  render  Ireland  more  subservient  to 
England,  to  increase  the  number  of  absentees,  to  destroy  legis- 
lative power,  to  diminish  her  agriculture,  manufacture  and  com- 
merce, and  to  reduce  her  people  to  the  lowest  state  of  misery, 
that  by  these  means,  according  to  the  machiavellian  policy,  they 
might  the  more  effectually  '  divide  and  conquer!  '  then  we  might 
know  what  we  should  expect  from  such  an  Union,  and  rest  per- 
suaded that  it  could  not  be  for  the  good  of  Ireland,  or  for  the 
happiness  of  her  people,  it  was  proposed. 

^Repealer's   Manual  on   Absenteeism:    the   Union   Re-Considered,  Dublin, 
1833,  p.  115. 

235 


236  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

"  Who  then  suggested  it  ?  There  can  be  no  doubt  but  what  it 
was  originally  suggested  by  Elizabeth  or  her  wicked  ministers, 
who  committed  such  ravages  in  Ireland,  and  taught  by  fire  and 
sword,  the  '  love  they  entertained  for  the  land  of  St.  Patrick, ' 
and  for  those  who  contemptuously  rejected  their  '  hated  creed  of 
lust  and  crime.' 

"  History  informs  us  that  Sir  William  Petty  was  one  of  those 
who  proposed  the  legislative  Union  of  England  and  Ireland, 
under  the  conviction  that  it  was  the  most  effectual  method  of 
rendering  Ireland  subservient  to  England. 

"  Cromwell,  of  '  holy  memory,'  wishing  to  see  how  the  thing 
could  be  accomplished,  attempted  it  in  part,  by  calling  two  Parlia- 
ments consisting  of  members  from  England  and  Ireland,  but 
bloody  and  barbarous  as  this  paternal  governor  was,  he  was  not 
able  at  that  time,  to  manage  this  business  to  his  satisfaction! 

"  We  find  the  legislative  Union  again  agitated  in  the  '  mild  and 
merciful  reign  of  Anne,'  in  whose  reign  the  union  with  Scotland 
took  place. — See  Brewer  s  Beatus,  85  Inst. 

"  The  same  policy  that  carried  the  Scottish  Union,  against  the 
feelings  of  the  people  of  Scotland,  dictated  the  Irish  Union 
against  the  declared  wish  of  the  Irish  people,  as  we  shall  see 
hereafter. 

"  From  the  time  of  the  Scottish  Union  to  the  year  1800,  Eng- 
lish writers  were  not  wanted  to  shew  the  '  advantages  '  to  their 
country,  that  an  Union  with  Ireland  would  produce. 

"  Postlethwayt,  in  his  work  entitled,  Britain's  Commercial  In- 
terests, printed  in  Dublin  in  1757,  in  the  second  volume,  page  204, 
takes  up  nearly  100  pages  to  shew  '  the  advantages  of  a  Union 
between  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  to  England  in  a  particular 
manner.' 

After  insinuating  that  Ireland  too,  would  be  benefited  by 
the  Union,  he  considered  that  in  lieu  of  those  advantages  '  Ireland 
should  give  England  at  least  half  a  million  annually  I !  !  ' 

"  '  Supposing  ' — says  he — '  that  Ireland  by  exerting  her  compe- 
tition in  trade  against  foreign  rivals  should  thereby  gain  a  net 
million  per  annum,  would  it  not  be  well  worth  while  to  give  up  to 
England  one-half  of  this  annual  gain,  for  the  sake  of  the  other 
which  she  cannot  obtain  without  it?     It  certainly  would.' 

"This  no  doubt  is  truly  disinterested,   and  'certainly'  if  by 


Arguments  for  the  "Union"  237 

the  Eiiglish  Government  were  not  only  allowed  to  enjoy  all  the 
natural  and  other  advantages  she  possessed  before  the  Union; 
but  to  increase  her  trade,  so  as  to  have  an  additional  clear  million 
per  annum,  few  Irishmen,  perhaps,  would  object  to  give  her  a 
fair  remuneration,  but  certainly  not  the  germ  of  their  indepeti- 
dence,  the  right  of  self-legislation. 

"  But  if  Mr.  Postlethwayt  could  have  anticipated,  that  by  the 
Union  Ireland  would  lose  some  millions  annually,  would  he  in  the 
plenitude  of  his  benevolence,  propose  that  England  should  re- 
munerate her  accordingly?  Or  would  he  suggest  the  propriety 
of  rescinding  a  measure,  which  by  producing  misery  in  Ireland, 
might  one  day  bring  destruction  on  England? 

"  '  By  the  Union  ' — says  he — '  Ireland  would  soon  be  enabled 
to  pay  a  million  a  year  towards  the  taxes  of  Great  Britain,  besides 
the  full  suppoi't  of  their  otvn  establishment.  And  would  not  this  in 
time  of  war,  greatly  contribute  to  raise  the  supplies  within  the 
year?  And  in  time  of  peace,  might  not  this,  with  an  addition  of 
a  millio7i  more  on  the  part  of  Gt.  Britain,  be  appropriated  as  an 
inviolable  debt-paying  fund  for  the  redemption  of  every  public  in- 
cu7nbrance?  By  the  Union  Ireland  would  be  enabled  to  assist 
England  with  12,000,  if  not  15,000  seamen  in  times  of  need, 
which  would  be  a  matter  of  no  little  importance.' — p.  203. — 
But  let  every  thinking  man  mind  what  follows:  ^As  England 
does  already  possess  no  inconsiderable  share  of  the  lands  of  Ireland  j 
so  the  Union  would  prove  an  effectual  method  to  vest  the  rest  in  her  ; 
for  as  the  riches  of  Ireland  would  chiefly  return  to  Engla?id,  she 
co7itinuing  the  seat  of  Etnpire,  the  Irish  landlords  would  be  better 
than  tenants  to  her,  for  allowing  them  the  privilege  of  making 
the  best  of  their  estates.' — p.  204. — There  is  love  of  Ireland  for 
you ! ! ! 

"  Is  it  necessary  to  trace  the  character  of  the  men,  who  from 
this  time  to  the  period  of  its  completion,  suggested,  or  planned 
or  advocated  the  Union? 

"  Pitt,  who  died  in  the  midst  of  that  debt  and  taxation  which 
he  entailed  upon  both  England  and  Ireland — that  mighty  states- 
man of  mighty  mind  and  gigantic  powers,  who  had  just  sufficient 
wisdom  to  plunge  a  nation  into  misery  and  not  common  sense  to  show 
how  it  could  be  rescued  from  ruin — he  was  the  grand  Machinist! 

"  Castlereagh,  the  curse  of  his  own  country  and  the  enemy 


238  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

of  every  other,  who,  as  if  like  another  Judas,  despairing  of  forgive- 
ness for  his  multiplied  transgressions,  became  his  own  executioner 
in  the  midst  of  his  pride  and  power! 

"  Clare,  the  unfortunate  Clare,  who  broke  his  heart  for  having 
bartered  the  independence  of  his  country  to  please  the  deceitful 
statesmen  of  England. 

"  Those  were  the  leading  agents  who  finally  planned  and  car- 
ried the  Union.  The  underlings  deserve  scarcely  to  be  noticed. 
It  may  be  right  to  mention,  however,  that  towards  the  end  of 
1798,  whilst  rebellion  raged,  Mr.  Cooke.,  an  Englishman,  then 
under-secretary  of  State,  on  a  salary  of  ^1414,  proposed  and 
discussed  the  Union  in  a  pamphlet  entitled.  Arguments  for  and 
against  the  Union.,  which  was  replied  to.  .  .  .  Shortly  after 
this  the  question  was  introduced  into  the  King's  Speech. 

"  We  now  proceed  to  inquire  what  were  the  means  adopted  to 
insure  its  accomplishment  and  under  what  circumstances  was  it 
ushered  into  notice? 

"The  following  facts  stand  in  black  and  indelible  characters 
upon  the  pages  of  Irish  and  English  history,  in  a  manner  too 
clear  to  be  refuted. 

"  I  St.  That  every  vile  scheme  a  wicked  policy  could  suggest, 
was  adopted  to  strengthen  the  government  or  Union  party,  and 
to  weaken  or  destroy  the  influence  of  those  who  were  likely 
to  oppose  the  measure.  '  The  Protestants  were  to  be  warmly 
patronized  by  Government,  the  Orangemen  were  to  be  duly  en- 
couraged and  the  Catholics  were  to  be  emancipated. ' —  See 
P low  den  s  Ireland. 

"  2nd.  That  in  1789,  fourteen  new  places,  with  increased 
salaries  were  granted  to  members  of  the  Irish  house  of  com- 
mons, as  an  inducement  to  '  vote  for  the  crown  and  government 
of  England.' — /l?id. 

"  3rd.  That  during  a  few  years  previous  to  the  final  settlement 
of  the  question,  thirty-two  new  peers  were  created,  nearly  every 
one  of  whom,  voted  for  the  Union. — Barrington's  Leg.  Union. 

"4th.  That  the  more  effectually  to  suppress  the  voice  of  the 
Irish  people,  which  they  knew  was  indignant  even  at  the  idea  of 
the  Union,  in  1793,  a  bill  was  passed,  prohibiting  assemblies  or 
meetings  of  the  people,  under  pretence  (which  in  this  case  meant 
purpose)  of  petitioning  against  grievances. — See  Convention  Act. 


How  "Union"  was  Obtained  239 

"5th.  That  Lord  Fitzwilliam  was  recalled  by  the  English 
Government,  because  he  acted  too  favorably  towards  the  Irish 
people  and  was  not  disposed  to  do  the  dirty  work  ! — See  Barlow' s 
and  Plowden's  Ireland,  and  the  Anthologia  Hibernica. 

"6th.  That  the  Yeomanry,  Militia  and  ancient  Britains  were 
raised  to  quell  by  the  sword  any  opposition  that  might  be  given 
to  government. — Ibid. 

"  7th.  That  Lord  Cornwallis,  who  had  fought  and  failed  against 
the  liberties  of  America,  was  deputed  (as  Pitt's  under  agent) 
to  visit  such  parts  of  Ireland,  where  he  could  more  effectually 
jockey  men  into  the  surrender  of  their  rights  and  offer  them  as  a 
sacrifice  at  the  shrine  of  England's  monopoly. — Ibid. 

"8th.  That  Rebellion,  however  created,  was  allowed  to  con- 
tinue when  it  might  have  been  suppressed,  the  more  effectually  to 
carry  the  intended  measure. — See  Minutes  of  Secret  Cotntnittee  in 
1798-9. 

"  9th.  That  in  1800,  thirty-five  new  writs  were  ordered  for  the 
re-election  of  members  who  had  accepted  places  from  England's 
Ministers. — See  Ann.  Reg.,  1800. 

"loth.  That  Ireland  was  placed  under  martial  law  and  that 
peaceable  meetings  to  petition  against  the  measure  were  dispersed 
by  military  force. — See  Lord  {then  Mr.)  Grey's  speech  against  the 
Union. 

"nth.  That  fair  and  legitimate  discussion  on  the  Union  was 
put  down ;  that  the  people  were  over-awed  by  a  military  force ; 
and  that  court-martials  sat  daily,  consigning  men  to  death  or 
transportation ;  whilst  the  Habeas  Corpus  and  all  legal  protection, 
(unless  to  the  hirelings  of  the  castle)  were  suspended. — Ibid. 

"12th.  That  the  simple  and  incredulous  were  actually  branded 
as  rebels  or  traitors  to  their  King  and  country,  if  they  did  not 
sign  petitions  y(?r  the  Union. — See  Plowden's  History. 

"13th.  That  immense  sums  were  expended  in  all  manner  of 
bribes,  as  pensions,  places,  stations,  elections,  returning  mem- 
bers rotten  boroughs,  or  apostate  counties,  or  to  set  aside  men 
who  were  pledged  against  the  measure. — See  Barrington's  Leg. 
Union,  Plowden's  and  Barlow's  Ireland. 

"On  this  subject  the  declaration  of  Castlereagh  is  sufficient. 
'  Half  a  million  was  expended  some  time  ago,  to  break  an  oppo- 
sition.    The  same,  or  perhaps,  a  greater  sum  may  be  necessary 


240  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

now.'  The  amount  of  the  salaries  given  to  those  who  held 
places  during  the  King's  pleasure  and  whose  votes  mainly  con- 
tributed to  carry  the  Union,  is  set  down  at  ^66,877.  In  addi- 
tion, there  were  twenty-six  lawyers  with  places  (as  Mr.  Barnes 
shows)  there  were  200  Boroughmongers,  who  got  ^1,500,000. 
New  Titles  in  all  61  were  given — to  4  Marquises,  6  Earls,  13 
Viscounts,  3  Viscountesses,  23  Barons,  and  12  Baronets. — 
Ibid. 

"The  following  remarks  on  the  vile  corruption  adopted  to 
carry  this  measure  are  too  much  to  the  purpose  to  be  omitted: 

"  '  The  Union  was  accomplished  '  (says  Mr.  O'Connell) '  '  by 
the  most  open,  base  and  profligate  corruption  that  ever  yet 
stained  the  annals  of  any  country.  It  was  reduced  to  a  regular 
system.  It  was  avowed  in  the  house.  It  was  acted  on  every- 
where. The  minister  set  about  purchasing  votes.  He  opened 
office  with  full  hands.  The  peerage  was  part  of  his  stock  in 
trade,  and  he  made  some  scores  of  peers  in  exchange  for  union 
votes.  The  episcopal  bench  was  brought  into  market  and  ten  or 
twelve  bishopricks  were  trucked  for  Union  votes.  The  bench 
of  justice  became  a  commodity,  and  one  Chief  Justice  and  eight 
puisne  Judges  and  Barons  ascended  the  bench, — as  a  result  of 
votes  for  the  Union.  It  would  extend  beyond  '  poor  Robin 
Almanack  '  to  make  out  a  list  of  the  Generals  and  Admirals  and 
Colonels  and  Navy  Captains  and  other  Naval  and  Military  promo- 
tions, which  rewarded  personal  or  kindred  votes  for  the  Union. 

"  '  The  revenue  departments  have  long  too  been  the  notorious 
merchandise  of  corruption.  It  is  not  surprising,  therefore,  that 
the  Board  of  Excise  and  Customs,  either  conjointly  or  separately, 
and  the  multifarious  other  fiscal  offices,  especially  the  legal  offices, 
were  crammed  to  suffocation,  as  the  reward  of  Union  votes. 

"  '  The  price  of  a  single  vote  was  familiarly  known.  It  was 
;^8ooo  in  money,  or  a  civil  or  military  appointment  to  the  value 
of  ;^2ooo  per  annum.  They  were  simpletons  who  only  took  one 
of  the  three.  The  dexterous  always  managed  to  get  at  least  two 
out  of  the  three;  and  it  would  not  be  difficult,  perhaps,  to  men- 
tion the  names  of  twelve,  or  even  twenty  members  who  contrived 
to  obtain  the  entire  three, — the  ^8000,  the  civil  appointment 
and  the  militaiy  appointment.'     . 

'  Letters,  p.  25. 


Pitt's  Promises  241 

"  The  Union  was  preceded  by  one  rebellion  and  succeeded  by 
another,  whilst  Erin  was  mourning  over  her  butchered  sons  and 
her  fields  were  stained  with  the  blood  of  her  children.  At  a 
time  when  the  scaffold  superseded  justice  and  the  blood-stained 
hand  of  the  assassin  set  honor  and  truth  at  defiance ;  when  dis- 
cord displaced  union  and  the  voice  of  dissension  drowned  the 
voice  of  dispassionate  discussions;  when  terror  on  one  hand  and 
perfidy  on  the  other,  disturbed  Ireland's  repose;  when  bribes  re- 
placed reason  and  corruption  stifled  argument — this  was  the  time 
when  an  Union  was  proposed  and  carried!  When  the  country 
was  exhausted  by  civil  wars  and  still  more  frightened  by  the  perils 
it  had  seen,  the  Union  was  forced  upon  us!  " 

Mr.  Battersby '  heads  a  chapter  "On  what  conditions  was 
the  Union  introduced  "  and  in  it  he  states: 

"  Mr.  Pitt  declared  that  the  conditions  of  the  Union  were: 

"ist.  That  'it  would  ensure  a  connection  for  the  immediate 
interests  of  both  countries,  with  many  advantages  to  Ireland  in 
particular. ' 

"  2nd.  That  '  it  would  give  Ireland  the  means  of  improving  all 
her  great  natural  resources  and  give  her  a  full  participation  of  all 
the  blessings  which  England  enjoys.' 

"  3rd.  That  '  it  would  diffuse  a  large  proportion  of  wealth  into 
Ireland  and  consequently  increase  her  resources.' 

"4th.  That  'it  would  produce  manifold  advantages  to  the 
land-owners,  merchants  and  every  class  of  men  in  Ireland.' 

"5th.  That  'it  would  maintain  order,  encourage  industry, 
diffuse  throughout  society  an  exertion  of  talents,  with  which  no 
country  is  ?nore pregnant  than  Ireland.' 

"  6th.  That  by  it '  England  would  sacrifice  ^,^700,000  a  year  in 
favor  of  Ireland,  guaranteed  to  her  irrevocably. ' 

"  7th.  That  in  the  commercial  transactions  between  England 
and  Ireland  there  would  be  an  advantage  of  ;^3,ooo,ooo  annually 
to  Ireland!!! — Pitfs  speech,  yan.  31,  1799;  do.  in  1800  on  his 
propositions. 

"  Lord  Castlereagh,  on  delivering  to  the  house  of  commons 
the  Lord  Lieutenant's  message  on  the  subject  of  an  incorporating 
with  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  5th  of  February,  1800,  said: 

'  P.  127, 

VOL.  I. — 16. 


242  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

"ist.  That  '  the  Union  was  a  sacrifice  of  money  made  by  Great 
Britain  to  her  own  loss  and  to  the  advantage  of  Ireland.' 

"2nd.  That  'by  it,  Ireland  would  be  taxed  considerably  less 
than  z/ she  remained  separate  from  England.' 

"3rd.  That  'in  respect  to  past  expenses,  Ireland  was  to  have 
no  concern  whatever  with  the  debt  of  Great  Britain;  but  that 
henceforth  the  two  countries  were  to  unite  as  to  future  expenses 
on  a  strict  measure  of  relative  ability,  which  would  be  7^  to  i.' 

"  4th.  That  '  it  would  give  Ireland  a  community  of  prosperity 
in  the  territorial  revenue  of  Great  Britain,  which  would  amount 
to  ;^6o,ooo  annually.' 

"  5th.  That  '  it  was  intended  to  make  provisions  for  a  certain 
sum  out  of  the  revenues  of  Ireland,  to  be  appropriated  to  those 
laudable  institutions  (mercy  on  us!)  such  as  the  Protestant  Charter 
Schools,  Dublin  Society,  etc' 

"6th.  That  '  the  amount  of  the  Peace  Establishment  in  Ire- 
land would  be  increased  from  12,000  troops  to  20,000  troops, 
which,  at  the  increased  pay  of  the  army,  would  raise  the  Peace 
Establishment  to  ;^i,5oo,ooo.' 

"  7th.  That  '  from  the  proofs  he  had  offered,  it  would  be  seen 
that  the  proposed  Union  would  give  us  in  aid  of  our  Peace 
Establishment  ^500,000  annually.'' 

"The  noble  lord  then  concluded  by  saying  that  'those  who 
had  a  stake  in  the  country,  would  consider  it  seriously,  whether 
advantages  like  these  should  be  rejected  without  discussion  and  de- 
cided by  wild,  senseless  clamour. ' 

"  Lord  Clare  in  his  speech,  Feb.  10,  1800,  said: 

"ist.  That  '  he  felt  most  happy  to  commit  Ireland  to  the  sober 
discretion  of  the  British  Parliament,  e^en  though  we  had  not  a 
single  representative  in  it.' 

"  2nd.  That  '  the  people  of  Great  Britain,  if  they  once  under- 
stood the  solid  interests  of  Ireland  (he  had  no  fear)  would  attend 
to  them.' 

"  3rd.  That  '  the  only  security  which  can  by  possibility  exist 
for  the  national  concurrence  of  Ireland,  is  a  permanent  and  com- 
manding influence  of  the  English  executive,  or  rather  of  the  English 
cabinet  in  the  councils  of  Ireland. ' 

"4th.  That  '  by  the  Union,  we  were  to  be  relieved  from  British 
and  Irish  faction,  which  is  the  true  source  of  all  our  calamities!  ' 


Lord  Clare's  Speech  243 

"5th.   That  by  it  '  we  were  to  become  one  people  ivith  England.^ 

"6th.  That  '  the  army  of  the  empire  would  be  employed  where 
it  was  most  wanted,  without  any  additional  expense  to  either  country. ' 

"7th.  That,  'by  the  Union,  the  resources  of  Ireland  must 
necessarily  increase  and  augment  most  rapidly. ' 

"  8th.  That  '  Ireland  would  participate  in  British  capital  and 
British  industry.' 

"  9th.  That  '  it  would  elevate  her  to  her  proper  station  in  the 
rank  of  civilized  nations  and  advance  her  from  the  degraded  part  of 
a  mercenary  province,  to  the  proud  station  of  an  integral  govern- 
ing member  of  the  greatest  empire  in  the  world. ' 

"loth.  That  '  it  would  withdraw  the  highest  orders  of  Irishmen 
from  the  narrow  and  corrupted  sphere  of  Irish  politics  and  direct 
their  attention  to  objects  of  national  importance,  to  teach  them  to 
improve  their  nation's  energies  and  extend  the  resources  of  their 
country,  to  encourage  manufacturing  skill  and  ingenuity  and 
open  useful  channels  for  commercial  enterprize;  and  above  all 
seriously  to  tame  and  civilize  the  lower  orders  of  the  people,  to 
inculpate  in  them  the  habits  of  religion  and  7norality  and  industry 
and  due  subordination,  to  relieve  their  wants  and  correct  their 
excesses.' 

"nth.  That  'it  would  not  drive  (more  than  were  then 
driven)  of  the  nobility  and  gentry  from  Ireland,  nor  impoverish 
the  metropolis  nor  render  the  evil  of  emigration  greater  than  at 
this  (his)  day ! ! !  ' 

"i2th.  That  '  the  Union  would  be  a  fair  prospect  of  peace  and 
wealth  and  happiness  for  Ireland. ' 

"  The  following  are  some  of  the  leading  promises  made  on  the 
part  of  the  Government  by  Mr,  Under-Secretary  Cooke,  in  his 
'  arguments  for  and  against  an  Union  '  .• 

"  I  St.  That  *  the  same  laws  would  be  enacted  for  Ireland  as  for 
Middlesex  or  Yorkshire.' — p.  50.  2nd.  That  'from  the  in- 
creased security  and  advantages  Ireland  would  derive  from  the 
Union,  absenteeism  would  be  considerably  lessened.'  3rd.  That 
'  as  Dublin  would  continue  to  be  the  chief  seat  of  revenue,  etc.,  it 
would  not  suffer.' — p.  43.  4th.  That  'a  great  decrease  of 
taxes  and  burdens  would  take  place  on  account  of  the  increased 
facility  of  governing  Ireland.' — p.  44.  sth.  That  'a  great  in- 
crease of  trade  and  commerce  would  take  place.' — Ibid.     6th. 


244  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

That  *  the  great  exports  of  Irish  linens  would  be  secured  and 
confirmed.' — p.  45.  7th.  That  'Ireland  would  be  raised  Xo  full 
equality  with  England. ' 

"  Such  were  the  conditions  on  which  the  Union  was  promised! 
Could  anything  be  more  beautiful  in  anticipation,  or  a  more 
Messed  state  of  things  for  Ireland,  as  far  as  words  went?     . 

"  But  we  will  coolly  inquire  in  the  proper  place,  were  all,  nay 
was  even  one  of  these  advantages,  unless  supporting  Charter 
Schools  and  proselytizing  Bastiles,  secured  to  Ireland  by  the 
Union." 

" Hozv  was  the  Union  carried?''  Under  this  head  Mr. 
Battersby  continues : 

"Lord  Grey,  the  present  Premier  (1833),  then  Mr.  Grey,  in 
his  speech  against  the  Union  in  the  English  Parliament,  March, 
1800,  stated  these  facts,  that  could  not  be  controverted: 

"  ist.  'That  two-thirds  of  the  members  for  the  countries, 
municipal  cities,  towns  and  open  places,  voted  against  the  Union, 
whilst  the  majority  in  its  favor  were  composed  of  members  from 
rotten  boroughs. ' 

"  2nd.  '  That  out  of  a  house  of  300  members,  282  voted!  Of 
these  120  voted  against  the  Union,  although  money  to  any  extent, 
peerages,  bishoprics  for  sons,  brothers  and  nephews,  the  offices 
of  judge,  general,  admiral,  commissioner,  etc.,  could  easily  have 
been  gotten  for  a  vote. ' 

"  3rd.  '  That  of  the  162  who  voted  for  the  Union,  no  less  than 
116  were  actual  place-men,  9  or  10  were  general  officers,  some  of 
whom  had  not  a  foot  of  land  in  Ireland ;  and  from  20  to  30  mem- 
bers were  English  and  Scotchmen,  put  into  parliament  for  the 
occasion ;  and  that  there  were  not  in  fact  above  two  or  three  honest 
votes  for  the  Union.'' 

"On  these  and  other  grounds  even  English  lords  protested 
against  the  measure,  particularly  Lord  Grey  and  Lord  Holland. 
— See  Parliamentary  History,  v.  34,  /.  823. 

"The  British  peers  met  on  the  19th  of  March.  ...  A 
conference  was  holden  with  the  commons  on  the  ensuing  day, 
when  it  was  proposed  that  it  should  be  offered  as  the  joint  address 
of  both  houses. 


Lord  Grey  on  the  "Union"  245 

"  Public  indignation  against  the  measure  ran  now  so  high  in 
Ireland,  that  it  was  deemed  meet  to  postpone  its  consideration 
for  another  session.     ... 

"  Thus  nearly  every  county  in  Ireland  met  and  protested 
against  the  Union.'  '  707,000  of  the  Irish  people  (says  Mr. 
O'Connell)  ^  petitioned  against  the  Union,  whilst  little  more  than 
3,000  (with  all  the  bribes  and  places  and  influence  of  government) 
could  be  got  to  sign  for  it.'  " 

Earl  Grey,  in  his  speech  of  April  21,  1800,  stated: 

"It  was  said  in  his  Majesty's,  and  in  the  Irish  Lord  Lieutenant's 
speeches,  that  the  consent  of  the  people  should  be  a  preliminary 
ingredient  in  the  measure,  and  in  support  of  this  we  are  told, 
there  are  a  number  of  addresses  in  its  favor;  but  as  not  one  of 
these  addresses  was  ever  laid  before  Parliament^  or  the  public,  we 
know  not  by  whom,  or  by  how  many  or  how  few  they  are  signed ; 
not  one  of  them,  however,  was  from  any  public  meeting  regularly 
convened  and  were  obtained  by  the  force  of  40,000  bayonets, 
martial  law  and  the  suspension  of  the  Habeas  Corpus  Act; 
whereas  considering  the  present  state  of  Ireland  (convulsed  after 
the  insurrection)  there  are  petitions  truly  miraculous  at  the  other 
side,  from  27  counties,  and  18  cities,  towns  and  corporations, 
regularly  and  publicly  convened,  signed  by  upwards  of  113,000 
persons  (there  being  2  petitions  signed  by  3000  persons  for  it); 
but  adding  those  who  signed  subsequent  petitions  against  it,  the 
number  was  707,000.     .     .     ." 

Mr.  Battersby  adds : 

"Is  it  necessary  now  to  ask  was  the  Union  the  deliberate  act 
of  two  contracting  nations?  Did  it  receive  the  sanction  of  the 
Irish  people?  Must  we  not  then  add  with  Mr.  Under-Secretary 
Cooke,  the  government  advocate  of  the  Union,  '  that  when  one 
nation  is  coerced  to  unite  with  another,  that  such  Union  savors  of 
subjection  '  ?  " 

It  is  unnecessary  to  trace  in  greater  detail  the  passage  of 
the  Union  Bill  through  the  Irish  and  English  Parliaments, 

'  Ensor's  Address  to  the  People  of  Ireland,  18 14. 
'  Letter  to  the  People  of  England,  February,  1831. 


246  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

as  the  reader  has  already  had  a  graphic  description  from  the 
pen  of  Barrington  of  the  scenes  in  the  Irish  House  of  Com- 
mons. Both  bodies  were  obliged  to  delay  action  until  the 
following  session,  when  the  Government,  having  perfected 
its  plans,  forced  the  measure  to  a  vote  and  passage  without 
the  slightest  regard  for  the  wishes  of  a  large  majority  of  the 
Irish  people. 

The  writer  from  whom  we  have  freely  quoted  as  an  au- 
thority on  this  subject  closes  with  an  extract  from  Ensor's 
work: 

"  Scarcely  had  the  law  passed,  satisfying  that  great  mischief, 
the  Union,  when  absenteeism,  the  predominant  calamity  of  Ire- 
land, was  fearfully  accelerated.  The  chief  proprietors  fled  from 
the  metropolis  as  from  an  invading  army;  and  the  country  afford- 
ing neither  interest  nor  expectation,  they  expatriated  themselves 
in  shame,  in  disgust,  in  anguish,  in  despair.  A  category  of  evils 
beset  the  land.  Those  who  had  entertained  fair  hopes,  soon 
found  their  prospects  darkened  and  a  long  night  closed  the 
transient  day.  To  infatuation  succeeded  self-torment.  A  chief 
judge  died  of  a  broken  heart  because  he  had  participated  in  that 
signal  treachery;  another  judge  asked  pardon  of  God  and  his 
country  for  sanctioning  it  with  his  vote;  Pitt,  the  machinist, 
perished  amidst  the  misfortunes  of  the  empire;  and  Castlereagh, 
in  his  pride  and  power,  became  his  own  executioner.  The  noble 
delinquents  and  their  race,  perished  together;  twenty-four  Irish 
peerages  have  become  extinct  since  the  Union  in  January,  1801, 
exclusive  of  peerages  under  a  superior  title,  but  continued  in  an 
inferior  honor;  and  while  I  write  another  of  the  noble  order, 
which  stands  between  the  prerogative  and  the  people,  as  '  hounds 
between  the  huntsman  and  the  hare,'  is  extinguished.  Thus 
nature  takes  vengeance  on  the  exalted  traitors  to  their  country. 
The  Union  can  not  subsist — sin  and  death  have  fixed  their  per- 
emptory seal  of  doom  upon  it.     .     .     .     " 


CHAPTER   XV 

LEGALITY  OF  THE  UNION  QUESTIONED — ENGLAND  NEVER 
COMPLIED  STRICTLY  WITH  A  SINGLE  PROVISION  OF 
THE  BILL — WHAT  WAS  PROMISED — TERMS  OMITTED — 
IRELAND  TRICKED 

The  legality  of  the  Union  between  England  and  Ireland 
was  questioned  before  the  Act  was  passed  and  it  has  been 
frequently  claimed  since  that  the  members  of  the  Irish  Par- 
liament had  received  no  legislative  power  to  consider  the 
subject.  It  was  held  that  the  power  delegated  to  the  mem- 
bers was  a  very  limited  one  under  any  circumstances  and 
that  it  was  restricted  to  the  passage  of  laws  relating  ex- 
clusively to  the  Irish  people;  consequently,  the  exercise  of 
a  legislative  function  was  an  usurpation. 

While  many  represented  rotten  boroughs,  the  body  as  a 
whole  was  representative  of  the  Protestant  element,  which 
formed  about  two  out  of  ten  of  the  population,  while  the 
Catholics  were  disfranchised  and  could  exercise  no  political 
influence.  All  Protestants  but  those  in  the  employment 
of  the  Government  were  opposed  to  the  Union.  The 
English  Government  directed  at  will  the  action  of  the  pup- 
pets constituting  the  Irish  Government  but  it  was  the  un- 
written law  not  to  conflict  with  public  opinion  held  by  the 
majority  of  the  Protestants.  The  passage  of  the  Act  of  the 
Union  is  the  only  exception  where  Parliament  ever  acted 
contrary  to  this  law. 

In  equity  at  least  there  is  no  doubt  that,  if  it  were  ever  a 
legal  compact,  England  has  nullified  it  by  her  own  acts,  in 

247 


248  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

that  she  has  never  strictly  fulfilled  a  single  provision  of  the 
bill. 

Before  the  vote  England  pledged  herself  that  under  no  cir- 
cumstance should  the  proposed  "Union  "  go  into  operation 
until  the  people  had  been  consulted  and  had  freely  given 
their  consent  to  the  measure.  Yet  martial  law  was  declared 
at  a  time  when  there  was  no  disturbance  in  any  portion  of 
Ireland  and  every  means  was  employed  by  the  Government 
to  prevent  the  people  from  meeting  publicly  to  consider  the 
matter. 

Notwithstanding  these  difificulties,  they  were  overcome ; 
petitions  were  forwarded  to  Parliament  from  every  part  of 
the  country  in  protest  against  the  "Union  "  and  signed  by 
the  great  majority  of  the  people.  Those  who  favored  the 
measure,  it  is  well  known,  were  as  a  rule  office-holders  and 
persons  who  had  been  bribed.  The  petitions  signed  by  the 
majority  were  never  laid  before  Parliament  by  the  Govern- 
ment, while  it  was  represented  that  the  petitions  received 
were  all  in  favor  of  the  "Union." 

It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  Ireland  was  a  kingdom 
distinct  from  England  previous  to  the  Union,  as  was  shown 
by  the  title  of  George  III.  who  was  termed  "King  of  Great 
Britain  and  of  the  Kingdom  of  Ireland.''  Each  country  was 
supposed  to  have  a  separate  government  in  all  details.  The 
English  Government  has  frequently  acknowledged  the  fact 
officially.  Towards  the  close  of  the  American  Revolution, 
when  Ireland  had  temporarily  attained  the  management  of 
her  own  affairs  and  prospered,  the  English  Parliament  de- 
clared that  Ireland  was  only  bound  by  laws  passed  by  the  King, 
the  Lords  and  Commons  of  Ireland. 

Battersby  states ' : 

"The  people  of  Ireland  in  1797,  when  they  elected  the  com- 
mons, made  choice  of  them  to  sit  and  vote  in  the  Irish  House  of 
Parliament  and  then  and  nowhere  else  to  establish  laws  for  the  gov- 
ernment of  Ireland.     The   members  of  the  upper  house,    from 

'  P.  137. 


Illegality  of  the  ''Union"  249 

1782,  made  a  compact  with  the  Irish  people  to  maintain  the  inde- 
pendence of  Ireland.  Neither  house  then  had  the  authority  to 
vote  away  the  Irish  constitution.  They  might  vacate  their  seats 
in  subserviency  to  the  English  members ;  but  they  could  not  vote 
away  the  Irish  Parliament.  They  could  not,  without  daring  un- 
constitutional robbery,  deprive  the  people  of  the  right  of  self- 
legislation. 

"Will  the  most  determined  advocate  of  the  Union  say,  that 
the  Commons  of  England  could  vote  the  destruction  of  the  Eng- 
lish Parliament  and  transfer  the  legislative  power  permanently  to 
Ireland  without  any  reference  to  the  English  people?  And  if 
not,  on  what  ground  of  law,  or  right  or  justice  could  the  Parlia- 
ment of  Ireland  do  it? 

"  But  let  us  first  hear  what  the  most  learned  civilians  say  upon 
this  subject. 

"  Grotius  says:  '  If  the  supreme  power  shall  really  attempt  to 
hand  over  the  kingdom  or  put  it  into  subjection  to  another,  / 
have  no  doubt,  that  in  this  it  may  be  lawfully  resisted.  For  as  I 
have  said  before,  it  is  in  that  case  another  government,  another 
holding  of  it;  which  change  the  people  have  a  right  to  oppose.' 
— Rights  of  War  and  Peace,  I.,  iv.,  lo. 

"Locke,  in  chap,  xix.,  sect.  217,  of  his  treatise  of  civil  gov- 
ern?nent,  says:  'The  delivery  also  of  the  people  into  subjection 
of  a  foreign  power,  either  by  the  prince  or  by  the  legislature,  is  a 
dissolution  of  the  govermtiejit.  For  the  end  why  people  entered 
into  society  being  to  be  preserved  one  entire,  free,  independent 
society,  to  be  governed  by  its  own  laws;  this  is  last,  whenever 
they  are  given  up  into  the  power  of  another. ' 

"  It  might  almost  be  supposed  he  had  the  present  case  in  con- 
templation when  he  wrote  the  following  lines,  so  aptly  do  they 
apply.  From  this  undisputable  authority,  it  appears  that  the  Act 
of  Union  not  only  is  absolutely  void,  but  the  people  are  at  liberty 
to  choose  a  new  legislature;  for  in  the  same  chapter  these  re- 
markable words  occur: 

"  'Whensoever,  therefore,  the  legislative  shall  transgress  this 
fundamental  rule  of  society,  and  either  by  ambition,  fear,  folly 
or  corruption,  endeavor  to  grasp  themselves,  or  put  into  the  hands 
of  another^  an  absolute  power  over  the  lives,  liberties  and  estates 
of  the  people ;  by  this  breach  of  trust  they  forfeit  the  power  the 


250  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

people  had  put  into  their  hands  for  quite  contrary  ends,  and  it  de- 
volves to  the  people,  who  have  a  right  to  resume  their  original 
libei^ty  and  by  the  establishment  of  a  new  legislature  (such  as 
they  shall  see  fit)  provide  for  their  own  safety  and  security; 
which  is  the  end  for  which  they  are  in  society.' — Edition  1694,/. 

338. 

"  *  When  (says  Puffendorff)  one  state  is  so  united  with  another, 
that  to  one  its  form  and  seat  of  government  remains,  but  that  the 
citizens  of  the  other  leaving  their  own  residence,  are  transplanted 
into  the  seat  of  government  and  placed  under  the  hands  of  the  other 
state,  it  is  plain  that  the  one  is  less,  and  that  the  supreme  power 
should  in  the  future  be  vested  in  the  King  and  the  lords,  or  be 
entirely  dissolved,  but  that  which  remains  does  not  cease  to  be 
the  same,  although  by  such  an  accession,  she  may  have  received 
a  signal  increase.' — Laws  of  Nature  and  Nations,   8,  12,  6. 

"  '  The  whole  comes  to  this,  that  the  supreme  power  is  in  a 
vain  pursuit  of  its  endeavors,  by  its  own  authority  alone,  to  trans- 
fer the  government  to  other  hands  and  that  the  subjects  are  not 
bound  by  such  an  act  of  their  government  but  that  such  a  thing 
requires  not  less  the  consent  of  the  people  than  of  the  government; 
for  as  the  government  cannot  be  lawfully  taken  from  the  gov- 
ernors without  their  consent,  so  neither  without  the  consent  of  the 
people   can   another  govermnent  be   obtruded  upori   them.'' — Ibid.^ 

8,  5,  9- 

'  *  '  The  legislative  cannot  transfer  the  power  of  snaking  laws  to 
any  other  hands ;  for,  it  being  but  a  delegated  power  from  the 
people,  they  who  have  it  cannot  pass  it  over  to  others.  The 
people  alone  can  appoint  the  form  of  the  commonwealth,  which 
is  by  constituting  the  legislative  and  appointing  in  whose  hands 
that  shall  be ;  and  when  the  people  have  said,  we  will  submit  and 
be  governed  by  laws  made  by  such  men,  and  in  such  terms,  no- 
body else  can  say  other  men  shall  make  laws  for  them.  The 
power  of  the  legislative  being  derived  from  the  people  by  a  posi- 
tive voluntary  grant  and  institution,  can  be  no  other  than  what 
the  positive  grant  conveyed ;  which  being  only  to  make  laws  and 
not  to  make  legislators,  the  legislative  can  have  no  power  to 
transfer  their  authority  of  making  laws,  and  place  it  in  any  other 
hands.' — Locke  on  Government,  2,  11,  141. 

"  The  present  Lord  Chancellor  of  Ireland  (Lord  Plunket,  then 


Lord  Plunket's  Speech  251 

Mr.  Plunket)  told  the  advocates  of  the  Union  that  they  had  not 
the  power  to  destroy  the  people's  constitution: 

"  *  I,  in  the  most  express  terms,  deny  '  (said  he)  '  the  compe- 
tency of  parliament  to  do  this  act!  I  warn  you  not  to  dare  to 
lay  your  hands  on  the  constitution.  I  tell  you  that  if,  circum- 
stanced as  you  are,  you  pass  this  act,  it  will  be  a  nullity^  and  that 
no  man  in  Ireland  will  be  bound  to  obey  it.  I  make  this  assertion 
deliberately.  I  repeat  it,  and  call  upon  any  man  who  hears  me, 
to  take  down  my  words.  You  have  not  been  elected  for  this 
purpose;  you  have  been  appointed  to  make  laws,  not  legis- 
latures. You  are  appointed  to  act  under  the  Constitution,  not 
to  enter  it.  You  are  appointed  to  exercise  the  functions  of  legis- 
lators and  not  to  transfer  them ;  and  if  you  do  so,  your  act  is  a 
dissolution  of  the  government  j  you  dissolve  society  into  its  original 
elements,  and  no  man  in  the  land  is  bound  to  obey  you ^ — you  may 
extinguish  yourselves,  but  parliament  you  cannot  extinguish.  It 
is  enthroned  in  the  hearts  of  the  people;  it  is  enthroned  in  the 
sanctuary  of  the  constitution;  it  is  immutable  as  the  island  it 
protects.  As  well  might  the  frantic  maniac  hope  that  the  act 
which  destroys  his  miserable  body,  should  extinguish  his  eternal 
soul.  Again  I,  therefore,  warn  you,  do  not  dare  to  lay  your  hands 
on  the  constitution;  it  is  above  your  power!!  ' — Speech^  1800. 

"Mr.  Saurin  to  the  same  effect  said:  'You  may  make  the 
Union  binding  as  a  law;  but  you  cannot  make  it  obligatory  on 
conscience.  It  will  be  obeyed  as  long  as  England  is  strong,  but 
resistance  to  it  will  be  in  the  abstract  a  duty;  and  the  exhibition 
of  that  resistance  will  be  a  mere  question  of  prudence. ' — Ibid. 

"  .  .  .  But  it  may  be  said,  that  the  Irish  people  did  silently 
acquiesce  to  the  Union.  If  they  did,  when  every  act  of  intimida- 
tion, of  treachery  and  of  suppressing/z^^/zV  meetings,  that  the  gross- 
est despotism  could  suggest,  was  adopted ;  it  would  even  still  prove 
nothing,  as  to  their  free  and  deliberate  act.  But  notwithstanding 
all  the  base  and  unconstitutional  means  to  beat  down  the  public 
mind,  even  to  silent  acquiescence,  it  is  notorious,  that  the  voice 
of  the  Irish  people  was  emphatically  declared  against  the  Union." 

Previous  to  January  i,  1801,  when  the  Union  became 
established,  as  it  is  claimed,  by  law,  Ireland  had  been  gov- 
erned by  no  fixed  code  of  laws  but  by  special  legislation. 


252  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

It  was  generally  understood  that  after  the  "Union  be- 
came established,  the  Irish  people  would  form  an  inherent 
part  "  of  the  British  Empire  and  would  thereby  be  entitled 
to  enjoy  in  common  with  the  English  people  the  same  laws. 
This  feature  was  generally  the  one  advanced  by  those  who 
advocated  the  Union  as  the  chief  advantage  to  be  gained  by 
Ireland.  But  from  some  oversight,  by  trick  or  design,  it 
was  found  after  the  agreement  had  received  the  King's 
signature  and  had  become  a  law  that  Ireland  had  received 
no  benefit.  The  only  provision  for  the  Government  of  Ire- 
land contained  in  the  "Act  for  the  Union  of  Great  Britain 
and  Ireland  "  was  "Article  VIII.,  that  it  be  the  eighth 
article  of  the  Union,  that  all  lazvs  in  force  at  the  time  of  tJie 
Union,  and  all  courts  of  civil  and  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction 
within  the  respected  Kingdoms  sJiall  remain  as  now  by  law 
established,  within  the  same,  subject  only  to  such  alteration 
and  regulations  from  time  to  time  as  circumstances  may  ap- 
pear to  the  Parliament  of  the  United  Kingdoms  to  require." 

Before  the  Union  Ireland  was,  according  to  law,  governed 
by  the  legislation  of  her  own  Parliament,  which  was  com- 
posed only  of  members  who  conformed  to  the  Established 
Church  of  England.  After  the  Union — there  being  no 
specifications  as  agreed  upon  in  the  Act  entitling  her  to  en- 
joy the  same  laws  in  common  with  England — Ireland  con- 
tinued to  be  governed  by  special  legislation  of  the  British 
Parliament  and  the  different  "Coercion  Acts"  passed  by 
that  body  almost  every  year  since  have  constituted  a  con- 
siderable portion  of  that  legislation.' 

'  Over  twenty-five  years  elapsed  before  the  Catholic  Emancipation,  which 
was  pledged  to  follow  immediately  after  the  Union.  Parliament  only  acted 
then  because  the  Government  dared  not  delay  longer.  Previous  to  the  passage  of 
this  Act,  the  Catholics  could  take  no  part  in  the  Government  of  the  United 
Kingdom  and  so  many  were  the  restrictions  provided  that  a  few  years  after, 
under  the  same  pressure,  some  more  concessions  were  reluctantly  made.  The 
Irish  were  not  included  in  the  Reform  Act  of  1868,  which  was  passed  only  for 
the  benefit  of  the  people  of  Great  Britain.  It  was  not  until  the  passage  of  the 
Third  Reform  Act  of  1884  and  1885,  when  the  Irish  delegation  in  Parliament 
held  the  balance  of  power,  that  the  two  political  parties  of  England  were 
forced  to  agree  that  the  Irish  people  should  have  the  same  rights  of  ballot  as 


The  "Union"  a  Curse  to  Ireland       253 

Ireland  was  thus  tricked  again  by  England,  as  was  fore- 
told would  be  the  case,  and  now  after  the  Union  has  been 
one  hundred  years  in  operation  she  is  beggared  and  England 
has  derived  all  the  advantage  from  the  connection  which  she 
forced  upon  the  Irish  people. 

Davis,  whose  views  we  have  already  quoted  in  relation 
to  Ireland,  was  the  chief  law  ofificer  for  the  English  Govern- 
ment in  the  early  portion  of  the  seventeenth  century  and 
he  was  uncompromising  in  his  severity  against  the  Irish 
people,  as  the  prosecuting  ofificer  of  the  Crown ;  but  he  was 
a  just  man  and  moreover  his  legal  training  made  him  a  close 
observer. 

Plowden's  criticism  on  Davis's  observations  is  applicable 
and  is  as  follows  ' : 

"  The  reflections  of  Sir  John  Davis  upon  the  State  of  the  Irish 
made  about  two  "  (three)  "  hundred  years  ago,  may  be  thought 
by  some  to  depict  the  fatal  policy  of  the  English  Government 
towards  Ireland  with  more  faithful  impartiality  than  a  modern 
writer  would  receive  credit  for." 

Davis  stated  ^ : 

"  This  then  I  note  as  a  great  defect  in  the  Civil  Policy  of  this 
Kingdom,  in  that  for  the  space  of  three  hundred  and  fifty  years 
at  least  after  the  Conquest  first  attempted,  the  English  Lawes 
were  not  communicated  to  the  Irish,  nor  the  benefit  and  Protec- 
tion thereof  allow'd  unto  them,  though  they  earnestly  desired  and 
sought  the  same.  For,  as  long  as  they  were  out  of  the  protection 
of  the  Lawe ;  so  as  every  Englishman  might  oppress,  spoyle,  and 
kill  them  without  Controulment,  howe  was  it  possible  they  should 
be  other  than  Outlawes  and  Enemies  to  the  Crowne  of  England? 
If  the  King  would  not  admit  them  to  the  condition  of  Subjects, 

the  people  of  England.  By  this  Act  and  through  the  operation  of  the  Local 
Government  Bill,  the  people  of  Ireland  at  the  end  of  one  hundred  years  are 
now  beginning  to  exercise  rights  and  privileges  which  she  should  have 
possessed  immediately  after  the  Union  had  the  English  Government  acted  in 
good  faith. 

^  Vol.  i.,  p.  31. 

"^  Historical  Relations,  etc.,  by  Sir  John  Davis,  p.  52. 


254  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

how  could  they  learn  to  acknowledge  and  obey  him  as  their  Sov- 
eraigne?  When  they  might  not  converse  or  commerce  with  any 
civill  Men,  nor  enter  into  anie  Towne  or  Citty  without  perill  of 
their  lives;  whither  should  they  flie  but  unto  the  Woods  and 
Mountains,  and  there  live  in  a  wilde  and  barbarous  manner? 
If  the  English  Magistrate  would  not  rule  them  by  law, 
which  doth  punish  Treason  and  Murder  and  Theft  by  Death; 
but  leave  them  to  be  ruled  by  their  own  Lords  and  Lawes,  why 
should  they  not  embrace  their  own  Brehon  Law,  which  punisheth 
no  Offence,  but  with  Fine  or  Erick?  ...  In  a  word,  if  the 
Englishe  woulde  neither  in  Peace  govern  them  by  Lawes,  nor 
could  in  warre  roote  them  out  by  the  sword;  must  they  not  needs 
bee  Prickes  in  their  Eyes  and  thornes  in  their  side  till  the  worlde's 
end?" 

It  is  at  present  as  hopeless  an  expectation  as  it  was  three 
hundred  years  ago  that  England  will  make  any  voluntary 
and  unselfish  change  for  Ireland's  benefit,  while  the  same 
indifference  as  to  the  condition  of  the  people  is  likely  to 
continue  "till  the  worlde's  end,"  unless  she  be  forced  to 
act  under  stress.  How  the  incentive  is  to  come,  the  future 
can  alone  show.  Possibly  the  "Local  Government  Bill," 
recently  introduced  into  Parliament  as  a  step  in  the  right 
direction,  may  prove  the  entering  wedge  for  Home  Rule. 

The  legitimate  channel  through  which  Ireland  must  seek 
redress  under  the  present  status  should  be  by  means  of  her 
representatives  in  the  Imperial  Parliament.  But  unfortun- 
ately, as  with  every  provision  in  the  Act  for  establishing 
the  Union,  all  of  which  emanated  from  the  stronger  Power, 
Ireland  was  tricked  by  England  also  in  regard  to  the  small 
number  of  members  allotted  her.  These,  representing  a  ma- 
jority of  the  Irish  people,  have  always  been  in  the  minority 
and  too  small  in  number  in  the  British  Parliament  to  com- 
mand attention  from  those  who  are  only  interested  in  the 
advancement  of  English  interests  alone.  On  the  part  of  the 
Irish  members  no  other  course  remains  to  advance  their 
special  interests  but  by  a  policy  of  obstructing  all  legislation, 
by  resorting  to  every  legitimate  means  until  they  are  sue- 


The  Irish  Policy  in  Parliament  To-day    255 

cessful  in  their  purpose.  To  remove  the  possibility  of  an 
attempt  being  made  by  the  Irish  members  to  pass  some 
measure,  when  holding  the  balance  of  power  between  the 
two  great  political  parties  of  England,  the  proposition  has 
already  been  agitated  to  reduce  Ireland's  representation  in 
Parliament.  If  England  is  to  gain  anything  by  the  change, 
the  violation  on  her  part  of  the  only  other  article  which  has 
not  been  broken  in  the  so-called  treaty  between  the  two 
countries  at  the  time  of  the  Union  would  of  course  bear  no 
weight  with  the  national  conscience.  Nor  would  she  con- 
sider seriously  the  great  injustice  of  basing  Ireland's  future 
representation  in  Parliament  on  the  present  reduced  popula- 
tion which  is  the  direct  result  of  England's  misgovernment. 

Fortunately,  so  long  as  Ireland  is  united  and  is  allowed 
any  representation,  ten  well-drilled  and  resolute  men  can 
equally  obstruct  or  suspend  business  in  Parliament,  until 
eventually  their  demands  must  receive  consideration. 

A  summary  by  Newenham '  of  the  injustice  done  Ireland 
in  relation  to  her  representation  in  Parliament  will  prove  of 
interest  to  the  reader  as  the  clearest  statement  from  a  con- 
temporary observer  which  has  come  under  the  observation 
of  the  writer;  but  in  consequence  of  its  length  it  will  be 
placed  for  reference  in  the  Appendix."* 

'  Pp.  280-286.  ^  See  Appendix,  note  i8. 


CHAPTER   XVI 

HISTORY  OF  SOME  STATE  PAPERS  CONNECTED  WITH 
BRITISH  RULE  IN  IRELAND  AND  SOME  ALLEGED  FACTS 
IN  RELATION  TO  THE  UPRISING  IN  1803 

The  following  chapter  is  taken  from  a  work  by  the  writer  ' 
and  while  it  does  not  strictly  preserve  the  narrative  in  this 
connection  it  is  a  record  of  part  of  the  obscure  history  of 
the  period,  which  will  need  investigation  by  the  future  his- 
torian. If  the  papers  which  are  supposed  to  exist  among 
the  secret  records  of  the  British  Government  can  ever  be 
fully  examined,  it  will  be  shown  who  were  in  the  employ  of 
the  Government  as  spies;  but  until  this  can  be  done  the 
patriotism  of  a  number  must  remain  in  doubt.  It  will 
never  be  known  what  portion  of  the  archives  have  been  lost 
or  destroyed.  But  no  doubt  can  rest  on  the  memory  of 
those  who  offered  up  their  lives,  those  who  suffered  griev- 
ously as  victims  of  torture  and  who  made  every  sacrifice 
with  no  possibility  of  personal  gain.  Among  the  latter 
were  chiefly  those  of  more  humble  origin,  like  Robert  Em- 
met's old  friend,  honest  James  Hope,  the  heroic  Michael 
Dwyer,  the  faithful  Anne  Devlin  and  a  few  others,  who 
yielded  neither  to  torture  nor  English  gold.  Until  the 
epitaph  of  Robert  Emmet  can  be  truthfully  written  and  an 
authentic  history  of  Ireland  can  be  compiled,  the  material 
necessary  for  the  guidance  of  the  historian  must  be  carefully 
preserved  by  those  who  desire  the  consummation  of  both  pur- 
poses.    Hence  this  chapter  will  not  be  entirely  out  of  place. 

'  The  Emmet  Family,  etc.,  p.  141. 
256 


Government  Records  of  1798  257 

Some  years  since  the  writer  obtained  permission  to  inspect 
a  portion  of  the  Irish  State  Papers  from  1798  to  1804,  which 
were  then  supposed  to  be  deposited  in  the  State  Depart- 
ment, London.  But  after  a  search  it  was  found  that  this 
section  of  the  papers  had  been  sent  some  years  previous  to 
Dublin  Castle  for  classification  before  being  placed  on  de- 
posit for  public  inspection. 

After  the  arrest  of  Thos.  Addis  Emmet  his  father's  house 
and  his  own  were  searched  and  every  particle  of  manuscript 
found  was  seized  and  carried  off  by  the  Government  officials. 
This  loss  of  family  papers  caused  great  difficulty  and  incon- 
venience afterwards  and  the  writer's  object  in  examining 
these  records  was  to  obtain  copies  of  any  letters  or  docu- 
ments that  could  be  found  of  national  interest  or  bearing 
upon  the  family  history. 

On  visiting  Dublin  Castle  it  was  ascertained  that  these 
papers  were  in  the  custody  of  Sir  Bernard  Burke.'  On 
presenting  the  permit  the  writer  was  informed  that  under 
no  circumstances  could  these  papers  be  opened  for  public 
inspection.  With  this  introduction,  and  being  disappointed 
in  the  main  object  of  his  search,  it  naturally  followed  that 
the  writer  employed  Burke  to  institute  a  systematic  search 
of  the  English  and  Irish  public  records,  which  was  carried 
on  for  years  under  his  direction. 

The  history  of  the  Emmet  family  was  a  subject  of  fre- 
quent conversation,  and  on  one  occasion  Sir  Bernard  ad- 
mitted that  he  had  made  a  partial  inspection,  several  years 
before,  of  the  papers  from  1798  to  1804.  In  explanation  of 
the  bar  put  upon  these  papers,  he  furthermore  stated  that 
he  had  satisfied  himself  that  the  public  interest  would  not 
be  served  at  that  time  by  any  one  having  a  knowledge  of 
their  contents  and  consequently  he  had  called  the  attention 
of  the  Lord  Lieutenant  (the  Duke  of  Marlborough)  to  them, 
with  the  request  that  they  be  sealed  up.  He  then  con- 
ducted the  writer  to  one  of  the  upper  stories  of  John's 
Tower,  Dublin  Castle,  where  the  State  records  were  kept, 
'  The  Ulster  King-at-Arms. 


258  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

and  in  an  out-of-the-way  corner  pointed  out  a  wooden  box 
corded  up  and  sealed.  Across  one  of  the  cords  was  pasted 
an  official  sheet  of  paper,  on  which  was  written  a  recommen- 
dation, signed  by  the  Duke  of  Marlborough  himself,  that, 
for  the  public  good,  these  papers  should  not  be  inspected 
for  a  term  of  years,  the  exact  time  named  being  now  for- 
gotten. On  being  further  pressed  for  additional  informa- 
tion. Sir  Bernard  admitted  that  he  could  give  no  accurate 
information  about  the  mass  of  papers,  which  did  not  at  that 
time  interest  him,  as  he  had  limited  his  attention  almost  en- 
tirely to  an  inspection  of  those  connected  with  the  bringing 
about  of  the  "Union  "  and  those  bearing  upon  the  uprising 
under  Robert  Emmet.  His  object  in  having  them  sealed 
up  and  forgotten  was  to  insure,  if  possible,  their  preserva- 
tion for  historical  purposes  hereafter. 

As  the  writer  was  not  a  subject  of  Great  Britain,  Burke 
doubtless  thought  that  he  could  be  more  confidential  and 
his  communication  was  accepted  at  the  time  in  confidence ; 
but  circumstances  have  since  removed  the  obligation  of 
silence.  To  all  appearances  Burke  was  one  of  the  "Castle 
people  "  and  as  a  retainer  of  the  Tory  Government  he  was 
obliged  to  be  subservient,  in  order  to  insure  his  position  and 
the  support  of  himself  and  family.  For  all  that,  it  is  be- 
lieved that  at  heart  he  was  a  true  Irishman.  After  the 
writer  had  become  well  acquainted  with  him  he  was  fully 
impressed  that  Burke  felt  a  deep  sympathy  for  Robert  Em- 
met and  for  everything  pertaining  to  his  memory.  Under 
the  circumstances,  therefore,  he  would  naturally  be  more 
communicative  with  official  information  to  a  member  of  the 
family  than  to  one  without  such  natural  interest  in  the  sub- 
ject. His  statement  was  to  the  effect  that  the  methods 
employed  by  the  British  Government  to  bring  about  the 
"Union"  were  almost  beyond  human  conception  and  con- 
stituted a  most  damnable  record  of  crime,  corruption  and 
bribery.  But  his  statement  in  reference  to  Robert  Emmet 
was  naturally  of  the  greatest  interest  to  the  writer.  These 
papers  showed  that  when  Napoleon  had  nearly  closed  the 


uprising  of  1 8o3  "Prepared"  by  Government  259 

English  ports  with  his  fleets  and  for  a  time  had  nearly  de- 
stroyed the  British  commerce  the  English  people  became  so 
restless  and  the  Tory  Government  so  unpopular  that  it  was 
thought  necessary  to  devise  some  means  of  diverting  the  pub- 
lic attention.  Sir  Bernard  Burke  also  made  the  following 
positive  statement,  that  he  had  read  among  these  State  Papers 
a  letter  from  the  English  Minister,  then  at  the  head  of  the 
British  Government,  addressed  to  Secretary  Marsden,  direct, 
ing  that  another  outbreak  should  be  gotten  up  in  Ireland  "at 
all  hazard  "  and  suggesting  that  Robert  Emmet,  who  was  in 
Paris,'  "should  be  approached  for  the  purpose.''  Burke  also 
found  an  unbroken  chain  of  evidence  to  show  that  in  con- 
sequence of  this  mandate  from  the  Government  an  agent, 
carefully  instructed  for  the  purpose,  went  to  Paris,  ap- 
proached and  misled  Robert  Emmet,  inducing  him  by  mis- 
representation to  return  to  Ireland.  He,  moreover,  said 
these  papers  clearly  showed  that  from  the  time  of  Emmet's 
landing  until  the  outbreak  in  Dublin  took  place  the  latter 
was  aided  in  every  way  by  the  police  to  perfect  the  move- 
ment. In  fact,  it  was  made  most  evident  that  the  Gov- 
ernment agents  in  Dublin  were  informed  of  every  move  and 
were  as  thoroughly  conversant  with  the  whole  affair  as  if  it 
were  directed  by  the  "Castle."  Madden,  in  his  study  of 
these  times,  without  being  able  to  gain  any  accurate  in- 
formation as  to  the  origin  or  purpose  of  the  move,  obtained 
the  clearest  evidence  that  Mr.  Emmet  was  misled  and  be- 
trayed from  the  beginning  of  his  course.  All  Dr.  Madden's 
investigations  on  this  point,  though  conducted  independ- 
ently of  Burke  and  by  access  to  different  material,  go  to 
confirm  the  latter's  testimony — i.  e.,  that  the  movement  did 
not  begin  with  Robert  Emmet. 

Henry  Grattan,  in  a  letter  to  Fox,  dated  December  12, 
1803,  refers  to   Lord   Hardwicke's  administration  and  his 

'  Robert  Emmet  had  been  living  abroad  practically  ever  since  a  few  months 
after  his  resignation  from  Trinity  College,  in  April,  1798.  At  this  time,  when 
he  was  deceived  and  induced  to  return  to  Ireland,  he  had  already  made  all  his 
arrangements  to  accompany  his  brother  to  America. 


26o  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

methods  of  suppressing  the  insurrection  as  follows:  "Mr. 
Pitt  had  7icvcr  been  able  to  raise  a  rebellion  by  his  measures  if 
he  had  not  been  assisted  by  the  gross  manners  of  his 
partizans." 

Madden,  in  his  Life  of  Robert  Ejnmet,  states: 

"  There  is  no  doubt  that  the  conspiracy  of  1803  originated  not 
with  Robert  Emmet,  but  with  parties  in  Ireland  who  contrived  to 
keep  their  real  objects  undiscovered  and  their  names,  too,  unrevealed, 
— who  managed  to  have  projects  of  renewed  rebellion  taken  up 
by  leaders  of  1798  who  escaped  expatriation, — men  not  of  the 
highest  order,  intellectually  or  morally — who  having  remained  in 
Ireland,  found  means  to  enter  into  communication  with  some  of 
the  principal  leaders  then  in  France,  and  through  them  with  the 
First  Consul  and  his  Ministers." 

The  men  "who  had  escaped  expatriation"  held  an  im- 
munity, as  we  must  now  believe,  being  in  the  employ  and 
pay  of  the  British  Government  and  consequently  were  able 
to  gain  and  hold  the  full  confidence  of  the  Irish  leaders  by 
their  apparently  consistent  patriotism. 

It  would  seem  as  if  Robert  Emmet  himself  felt  it  advisable 
at  that  time  to  withhold  certain  portions  of  the  history  of 
the  movement.  It  may  have  been  that  he  desired  to  shield 
certain  individuals  he  believed  to  be  patriots  and  whose 
connection  with  the  movement  he  thought  was  unknown  to 
the  Government.  But,  with  the  knowledge  we  possess 
to-day,  the  probabilities  are  great  indeed  that  these  very 
individuals  whom  he  fully  trusted  were  at  that  time  spies 
and  informers  in  the  pay  of  the  British  Government.  In 
the  speech  delivered  at  his  trial  Robert  Emmet  said : 

"  I  have  been  so  charged  with  that  importance  in  the  efforts  to 
emancipate  my  country,  as  to  be  considered  the  keystone  of  the 
combination  of  Irishmen,  or,  as  it  has  been  expressed,  '  the  life 
and  blood  of  the  conspiracy.'  You  do  me  honour  over  much; 
you  have  given  to  the  subaltern  all  the  credit  of  the  superior. 
There  are  men  concerned  in  this  conspiracy,  who  are  not  only 


Government  Spies  Incite  Robert  Emmet    261 

superior  to  me,  but  even  to  your  own  conception  of  yourself,  my 
lord — men  before  the  splendour  of  whose  genius  and  virtues  I 
would  bow  with  respectful  deference 

As  there  exists  no  higher  authority  than  Dr.  Madden  on 
this  subject,  we  must  again  quote  his  views  as  expressed  in 
his  Life  of  Emmet : 

"  Nothing  can  be  more  clear,  from  the  official  documents  and 
parliamentary  papers  I  have  placed  before  my  readers,  than  that 
Lord  Hardwicke  was  kept  in  total  ignorance  of  the  preparation 
for  Robert  Emmet's  conspiracy  'till  the  very  evening  of  the  out- 
break on  the  23d  of  July,  and  ^/laf  Mr.  Marsden  was  in  possession 
of  all  the  secret  knowledge  that  was  necessary  to  have  enabled  the 
Government  to  have  seized  on  Emmet  and  his  associates  four  months 
before  that  outbreak,  and  to  have  prevented  the  insurrection  from 
ever  having  been  attempted  at  all.  But  that  result  would  not  have 
suited  the  views  of  Lord  Castlereagh.  There  was  a  new  French 
invasion  apprehended.  It  was  to  be  anticipated  by  another  pre- 
maturely exploded  rebellion.  Castlereagh's  hand  was  assuredly 
in  the  direction  given  to  the  Irish  Government  by  Mr.  Marsden, 
without  the  knowledge  of  the  Lord  Lieutenant,  who  was  a  straight- 
forward, good  man,  incapable  of  any  act  of  state  villainy  such  as 
Castlereagh  delighted  in  secretly  performing.  The  Orangemen, 
be  it  remembered,  at  that  period  were  indignant  with  Lord  Hard- 
wicke for  setting  his  face  against  the  old  Camden  policy  of  allying 
the  Government  with  Orangeism,  or  rather  dividing  the  power 
of  the  state  with  that  faction.  The  Irish  Government  was  to  be 
made  to  feel  that  Orangemen  could  not  be  done  without.  The 
old  traitors  in  the  camp  of  the  United  Irishmen,  who  had  not  then 
been  discovered,  were  brought  into  communicatiott  with  those  members 
of  the  faction,  to  whom  the  mysteries  of  the  haute  politique  of  its 
Machiavellian  regime  were  confined,  and  the  result  was  the  concoction 
of  a  mass  of  lying  reports,  transmitted  to  the  United  Irish  leaders  in 
France  in  1802,  purporting  to  give  an  exact  account  of  the  real 
state  of  things  in  Ireland,  and  showing  it  to  be  most  favourable 
for  a  renewed  attempt  on  the  part  of  the  United  Irishmen."  ' 

'  This  statement  of  Dr.  Madden  is  a  remarkable  confirmation  of  the  one 
made  by  Sir  Bernard  Burke  and  his  conclusions  were  most  sagacious,  since 
he  could  not  have  had  access  to  the  papers  seen  by  Burke, 


262  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

Dr.  Madden,  after  exposing  the  part  played  by  the 
Orangemen  in  exciting  disturbance  among  the  Irish  people, 
goes  on  to  picture  the  misery  that  had  fallen  upon  Dr. 
Emmet  and  his  wife.      He  then  continues: 

"  Orangemen  of  Ireland,  who  secretly  fomented  seditious  de- 
signs of  disaffected  men  in  1802,  who  connived  ar  their  machina- 
tions and  allowed  conspiracy  to  go  unchecked^  ^  till  young  Emmet  was 
sufficiently  deceived  to  be  easily  destroyed — these  are  your  triumphs; 
the  desolation  of  the  home  of  an  aged,  virtuous  couple,  the  ruin 
in  which  all  belonged  to  them  were  involved,  the  ignominious 
death  of  their  youngest,  gifted  child.  These  are  your  achieve- 
ments! Of  what  avail  are  they  now  to  your  discredited  Franken- 
stein-lived institution?  And  what  advantages  to  England's 
imperial  interest  have  accrued  from  them?  " 

Robert  Emmet  must  have  obtained  some  intimation,  be- 
tween the  time  of  the  outbreak  and  his  arrest,  of  the  in- 
famous trickery  employed  by  the  Government  against  him. 
He  certainly  realized  and  expressed  the  belief  that  he  was 
condemned  to  death  before  his  trial  commenced.  To-day 
we  may  add  to  this  charge  that  he  was  condemned  to  death 
before  he  had  ever  committed  an  overt  act  and  that  the 
English  Tory  Government,  through  its  Minister,  conceived, 
bore  and  gave  birth  to  this  plot  for  his  judicial  murder. 
Such  a  charge  would  seem  scarcely  worthy  of  belief  were  it 
not  evident  to  every  student  of  Irish  history  that  England, 
with  her  unscrupulous  methods  of  statecraft,  has  never  hesi- 
tated in  resorting  to  any  procedure ,  in  Ireland  at  least,  to  carry 
out  her  purpose.  It  is  not  necessary  to  do  more  than  inves- 
tigate her  methods  to  bring  about  the  "Union  "  ;  which  are 
so  clearly  proved  that,  in  comparison  with  them,  the  sacri- 
fice of  the  life  of  a  single  individual  to  accomplish  her  object, 
as  in  the  death  of  Robert  Emmet,  was  but  a  trivial  incident. 

Sir  Bernard  Burke  was  an  invalid  for  some  time  before  his 
death  and  must  have  been  in  ignorance  of  what  was  done 
in  his  ofifice.  But,  at  some  time  during  the  Tory  administra- 
tion previous  to  the  last  Liberal  one,  the  papers  which  have 


State  Papers  Destroyed  by  Government   263 

been  so  much  referred  to  must  have  been  discovered  by 
some  official  of  the  Government  and  from  prudential  motives 
many  were  destroyed. 

Soon  after  the  Liberal  party  came  into  power  search  was 
made,  by  permission  of  the  authorities,  for  this  box  of  papers 
but  not  a  trace  of  its  contents  could  be  found.  In  fact, 
nothing  remains  to-day  but  the  corroboration  given  by  Dr. 
Madden  to  prove  the  truth  of  Sir  Bernard  Burke's  state- 
ment. 

While  the  circumstantial  evidence  is  all  in  favor  of  the 
truth  of  his  statement,  it  will  now,  unfortunately,  in  some 
respects  have  to  stand  unproved,  since  those  who  are  cog- 
nizant of  the  facts  are  never  likely  to  divulge  their  secret. 

Yet  no  reasonable  doubt  can  exist  as  to  the  action  of  the 
English  Government  in  forcing  the  outbreak  of  1798  for 
political  purposes.  The  people  of  Ireland  in  1803  were  no 
less  discontented  with  their  condition,  after  the  fraudulent 
"Union"  had  been  brought  about  by  the  same  influence. 
The  charge  may  therefore  be  readily  accepted  as  true — that 
the  English  authorities  were  responsible  for  the  death  of 
Robert  Emmet,  as  a  premeditated  act,  and  they  were  equally 
responsible,  directly,  for  all  the  horrors  and  bloodshed  which 
attended  the  outbreak  its  agent  had  been  commanded  to 
instigate  and  to  direct,  to  the  end  of  misleading  their  own 
people  and  of  furnishing  pretext  for  punishing  the  Irish  who 
the  Government  could  neither  conquer  nor  exterminate. 

Certainly  some  one,  during  this  period  of  Tory  rule, 
had  free  access  to  these  papers,  with  no  desire  for  their 
preservation.  A  short  time  before  Mr.  Gladstone's  last 
administration  began  the  writer  purchased  in  Dublin  sev- 
eral papers  connected  with  Robert  Emmet's  arrest  and 
trial.  These  documents'  were  beyond  question  at  some  time 
part  of  these  State  Papers  and  could  only  have  been  taken 
out  in  Sir  Bernard  Burke's  absence,  after  the  writer  had 
seen  in  1880  the  corded  and  sealed  box  containing  them. 
Any  one  familiar  with  the  methods  of  a  Government  office, 
'  They  were  all  reproduced  in  facsimile  in  The  Emmet  Family,  etc. 


264  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

and  especially  with  one  in  Ireland,  would  feel  fully  satisfied 
that  no  ofificial  would  dare  to  take  the  responsibility  of 
breaking  the  seal  which  protected  these  papers,  unless 
ordered  to  do  so  by  some  one  with  the  weight  of  the  British 
Government  behind  him. 

In  April,  1798,  Robert  Emmet  resigned  from  Trinity 
College  and  shortly  afterwards,  on  his  way  to  the  Continent, 
visited  his  brother  Thomas,  imprisoned  in  Fort  George. 
After  spending  the  summer  chiefly  in  Switzerland,  he  finally 
settled  down  in  Paris  to  await  his  brother's  expected  release, 
intending  to  accompany  him  and  his  family  to  the  United 
States.  Beyond  these  facts  absolutely  nothing  is  known  of 
his  life  there  for  some  two  years.  We  are  even  deprived 
of  his  correspondence,  for  very  few  of  his  letters  are  known 
to  exist.  He  doubtless  wrote  to  his  family  while  abroad 
but  his  letters  were  either  not  preserved  or  they  passed  into 
the  possession  of  the  English  Government  when  the  family 
papers  were  seized. 

In  October,  1802,  Robert  Emmet  returned  to  Ireland 
from  Paris.  We  have  seen  from  his  mother's  last  letter'  to 
her  son  Thomas  that  Robert  remained  for  a  short  time  at 
Casino  and  was  there  in  December,  at  the  time  of  his 
father's  death.  Shortly  after  this  event  Mrs.  Emmet  closed 
Casino  and  changed  her  residence  to  Bloomfield,  where  she 
died  a  few  months  later.  After  Mrs.  Emmet's  change  of 
residence  to  Bloomfield,  another  suburb  of  Dublin,  Casino 
seemed  deserted.  At  this  time  it  is  likely  that  Robert  Em- 
met began  his  operations  in  town  and  he  often  used  this 
place  as  a  refuge  after  a  price  was  put  upon  his  head. 

On  the  1 8th  of  July,  1803,  there  was  an  explosion  in  a 
depot  in  Patrick  Street,  Dublin.  This  was  supposed  at  the 
time  to  have  been  due  to  an  accident  but  the  probabilities 
are  that  it  was  done  by  some  traitor,  in  obedience  to  orders 
from  the  Castle  to  precipitate  the  movement.  This  is 
not  improbable,  as  the  Government  apparently  took  no 
notice  of  the  matter  although  the  roof  of  the  house  had 

'  The  Emmet  Fatnily,  etc.,  p.  lOO. 


Robert  Emmet  Realizes  his  Betrayal     265 

been  completely  blown  off  with  a  loud  concussion.  Under 
ordinary  circumstances  such  an  occurrence  would  instantly 
have  attracted  the  attention  of  the  police  and  the  matter 
would  have  been  investigated  at  once. 

Robert  Emmet's  plans  were  to  wait  for  the  expected  in- 
vasion of  England  by  the  French.  But  after  the  explosion 
he  was  forced,  as  doubtless  it  was  intended  he  should  be, 
to  act  quickly  and  before  he  was  fully  prepared,  for  fear 
of  discovery  of  the  movement  by  the  police. 

Therefore  an  attempt  was  made  on  July  23d  to  take  the 
Castle  of  Dublin  by  surprise,  with  every  prospect  of  success, 
as  it  was  known  that  the  gateway  was  left  open  and  un- 
guarded as  if  the  authorities  were  in  profound  ignorance  of 
the  danger.  Now  we  know  that  this  was  done  for  the 
purpose  of  creating  this  impression.  But  the  movement 
was  a  failure  from  the  beginning,  owing  to  the  desertion  of 
those  who  were  in  the  employ  of  the  Government  and  the 
lack  of  discipline  and  precision  of  those  of  Emmet's  fol- 
lowers who  remained. 

Mr.  Emmet,  realizing  that  he  had  been  betrayed,  refused 
to  give  the  signals  which  would  bring  the  country  people  in 
force  into  Dublin,  for  he  stated :  "I  would  have  given  it  the 
respectability  of  insurrection,  but  I  did  not  wish  uselessly 
to  shed  blood ;  I  gave  no  signal  for  the  rest,  and  they  all 
escaped." 

Some  years  ago  the  Author  obtained,  as  has  been  stated, 
several  papers  which  must  have  been  at  some  time  in  the 
Irish  Government  archives ;  and  they  were  doubtless  a  por- 
tion of  those  which  Burke  had  sealed  up.  These  documents 
proved  of  the  greatest  historical  value  in  relation  to  the 
arrest  and  trial  of  Robert  Emmet. 

One  of  those  he  obtained  is  the  original  warrant  for  the 
reward  due  the  betrayer  of  Mr.  Emmet's  place  of  conceal- 
ment. This  was  reproduced.'  Another  of  these  papers  is 
of  more  importance,  as  it  is  believed  to  be  what  was  then 
termed  in  Ireland  the  "Devil's  Brief,"*  an  instrument  of 

'  The  Emmet  Family,  etc.,  p.  173.  'P.  156. 


266  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

injustice  long  in  vogue  in  that  unhappy  country  and  one  by 
which  many  an  innocent  man  suffered.  Up  to  within  a 
recent  period  it  was  not  an  uncommon  thing  in  Ireland  to  use 
this  form  of  procedure  for  the  conviction  of  any  person  whom 
the  authorities  felt  disposed  to  get  rid  of.  Unfortunately 
there  has  been  no  time  in  Ireland,  for  some  hundreds  of 
years  past,  that  the  British  Government  could  not  prove 
anything  desired,  against  any  one,  by  a  set  of  hirelings  of 
alien  descent  who,  though  perhaps  born  in  Ireland,  never 
possessed  anything  else  in  common  with  their  place  of  birth. 

Robert  Emmet  was  tried  for  high  treason  on  September 
19,  1803,  in  the  old  Green  Street  Court  House,  where  for 
many  generations  past  all  "political  offenders"  tried  in 
Dublin  have  had  in  the  same  room  their  quota  of  injustice 
meted  out  to  them. 

It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  Robert  Emmet  made  no  de- 
fence by  examination  of  witnesses,  and  this,  it  was  thought, 
was  in  accordance  with  the  advice  of  his  supposed  friend  and 
counsel,  the  "Judas  "  McNally,  who  was  even  at  that  time 
in  the  pay  of  the  British  Government.' 

In  the  report  of  Robert  Emmet's  trial  we  find  McNally 
said:  "As  Mr.  Emmet  did  not  intend  to  call  any  witnesses, 
or  take  up  the  time  of  the  Court  by  his  counsel  stating  any 
case  or  making  any  observation  on  the  evidence,  he  pre- 
sumed the  trial  was  now  closed  on  both  sides."  And 
Robert  Emmet  is  reported  as  saying  in  his  speech : 

"  Why  then  insult  me,  or  rather  why  insult  justice,  in  demand- 
ing of  me,  why  sentence  of  death  should  not  be  pronounced 
against  me?  I  know,  my  lords,  that  the  form  prescribes  that  you 
shall  put  the  question ;  the  form  also  confers  a  right  of  answer- 
ing. This,  no  doubt,  may  be  dispensed,  and  so  might  the  whole 
ceremony  of  the  trial,  since  sentence  was  already  pronounced  at  the 
Castle  before  your  Jury  were  impanelled y 

Therefore,  as  Mr.  Emmet  made  no  defence  and  examined 
no   witnesses,    it    became    necessary    for   the    Government 
'  This  subject  has  been  considered  in  a  previous  chapter. 


The  "  Trial  "  of  Robert  Emmet         267 

officials  suddenly  to  change  their  plans  and  to  pursue  a 
course  which  does  not  correspond  closely  with  the  brief.  It 
is  not  improbable  that  Robert  Emmet  himself  determined  on 
following  this  course  and  when  he  so  decided,  McNally,  to 
maintain  his  influence,  was  obliged  not  only  to  acquiesce  but 
even  to  advocate  it.  By  some  fortunate  circumstance  this 
brief  prepared  for  his  trial  was  not  destroyed  but  was  filed 
away  with  the  other  papers  connected  with  the  prosecution. 
It  was  prepared,  beyond  question,  before  the  trial,  a  pro- 
cedure which  was  not  unusual  and  has  always  been  con- 
sidered a  legitimate  one  when  the  evidence  could  be  gotten 
together.  But  with  a  knowledge  of  the  peculiar  circum- 
stances in  this  case  the  suspicion  becomes  a  conviction  that 
this  document  is  a  "Devil's  Brief"  and  the  inference  is  not 
an  unreasonable  one  that  the  "arrangement  of  evidence  for 
Emmet's  trial  "  was  gotten  up  even  before  his  arrest.  This 
is  based  on  the  belief  that  by  the  order  of  the  English  Min- 
ister the  police  were  the  chief  directors  in  the  "Emmet  in- 
surrection," The  needed  testimony,  therefore,  was  not 
difficult  to  obtain,  under  the  circumstances,  at  any  time  by 
drilling  before  the  "trial"  a  sufficient  number  from  the 
"Battalion  of  Testimony  "  '  and  it  was  not  difficult,  as  shown 
from  an  endorsement  on  the  document,  to  determine  before- 
hand that  "Wilson  will  prove  it." 

The  document  has  been  given  in  facsimile,'  on  account  of 
its  great  historical  interest  in  connection  with  the  trial  of 
Robert  Emmet,  and  the  reader  can  compare  the  evidence 
given  in  the  brief  with  the  official  account  of  the  trial  pub- 
lished by  the  Government  in  the  newspapers,  one  of  which 
has  been  reproduced. 

Immediately  after  the  termination  of  the  trial,  there  was 
issued  by  the  Government  for  the  public  Press  an  official 

'  The  names  of  all  those  who  bore  false  witness  at  the  bidding  of  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  English  Government  in  Ireland  have  never  been  published 
but  at  least  four  of  those  who  testified  on  Robert  Emmet's  trial  against  the 
prisoner  were  on  Major  Sirr's  staff.  Beyond  question  McNally,  his  counsel, 
was  also  in  the  pay  of  the  British  Government. 

'  The  Emmet  Family,  etc.,  p.  156. 


268  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

version  of  what  it  wished  the  people  to  believe  Robert  Em- 
met had  uttered  in  his  speech  before  sentence  was  passed 
upon  him.  A  broadside  also,  giving  an  account  of  the  exe- 
cution and  of  the  advice  alleged  to  have  been  given  by  him 
to  the  Irish  people,  was  distributed  through  the  streets  of 
Dublin  so  soon  after  the  execution  that,  in  a  period  lacking 
the  enterprise  of  the  present  day,  no  other  inference  can  be 
drawn  but  that  it  was  printed  before  the  event  took  place. 
If  this  be  true  it  was  done  by  the  British  Government 
for  the  special  purpose  of  misleading  the  French  and  causing 
the  Irish  people  to  believe  that  Robert  Emmet,  at  the  last 
moment  regretting  his  course,  had  urged  all  true  Irishmen 
forcibly  to  resist  any  interference  on  the  part  of  France/ 

'  A  copy  of  this  broadside  has  recently  been  obtained  by  the  writer  after 
years  of  search.  It  has  at  the  head  an  elaborate  copper  etching  nearly  twelve 
by  seven  inches  in  size,  showing  the  interior  of  the  Green  Street  courtroom, 
the  judges  on  the  bench,  the  jury  in  their  box,  the  lawyers  seated  at  a  large 
round  table  and  Robert  Emmet  in  the  act  of  speaking.  So  carefully  were 
these  figures  drawn  that  evidently  they  were'^in  many  instances  intended  for 
likenesses.  But  a  significant  feature  is  that  a  magnifying  glass  shows  that  the 
profile  of  Robert  Emmet,  which  is  perfect,  was  drawn  in  after  the  remaining 
portion  of  the  head  had  been  finished.  Against  the  wall,  as  if  in  a  scroll, 
Mr.  Emmet  is  represented  as  saying :  "If  the  French  land  in  Ireland,  O  my 
countrymen  !  meet  them  on  the  shore  with  a  torch  in  one  hand,  a  sword  in  the 
other, — receive  them  with  all  the  destruction  of  war.  Immolate  them  in  their 
boats  before  our  native  soil  should  be  polluted  by  a  foreign  foe."  Below  the 
print  is  the  following  heading :  "  Memoirs  of  Mr.  Emmet,  executed  in 
Thomas-Street,  City  of  Dublin,  on  Tuesday,  the  20th  September,  1803,  after 
an  impartial  trial  which  lasted  thirteen  hours,  before  a  most  respectable 
jury." 

In  the  speech  he  is  represented  to  have  uttered  the  following  in  connection 
with  the  above  :  "If  they  succeed  in  landing  fight  them  on  the  strand,  burn 
every  blade  of  grass  before  them,  as  they  advance  ;  raze  every  house  ;  and  if 
you  are  driven  to  the  centre  of  your  country,  collect  your  provisions,  your 
property,  your  wives  and  your  daughters,  form  a  circle  around  them — fight 
while  two  men  are  left,  and  when  but  one  remains,  let  that  man  set  fire  to  the 
pile,  and  release  himself  and  the  families  of  his  fallen  countrymen  from  the 
tyranny  of  France."  This  enthusiastic  version  of  Robert  Emmet's  speech  from 
an  English  standpoint  was  ostensibly  "  Printed  and  Published  by  J.  Shea,  No. 
42  College-Green,  Dublin — Price  i^.  id.  Coloured — Plain,  b\d." 

From  The  Emmet  Family,  etc. ,  p.  164,  the  following  is  taken  :  "  It  was  doubt- 
less part  of  the  plot,  arranged  before  the  trial,  that  Lord  Norbury  should  fre- 


Government  Publishes  a  Bogus  Speech    269 

If  a  broadside  as  described  was  issued  just  after  the  trial, 
another  in  the  possession  of  the  writer,  which  is  repro- 
duced,' must  have  emanated  from  the  same  source  on  the 
following  day ;  and  while  a  somewhat  truthful  relation  of 
the  execution  is  given  the  same  object  for  its  publication 
in  regard  to  France  is  most  evident. 

We  have  seen  in  the  diary  kept  by  Thomas  A.  Emmet  while 
in  Paris'  that  the  French  were  very  indignant  on  reading 
the  Government  version  of  Emmet's  speech.  This  publica- 
tion, as  intended,  was  doubtless  in  part  responsible  for  the 
loss  of  interest  on  the  part  of  the  French  Government  and 
in  so  much  deprived  Ireland  of  her  long-promised  help. 

The  news  of  Robert's  arrest  and  that  of  other  members  of 
the  family  was  brought  over  in  an  open  boat  to  Mr.  Emmet  in 
France.  Shortly  after  he  also  received  in  the  same  way  as 
full  a  copy  of  the  ofificial  version  of  his  brother's  trial  and 
execution  as  was  permitted  to  be  published  in  the  news- 
papers of  Dublin.  It  is  believed  that  the  news  of  Robert 
Emmet's  arrest  was  the  first  intimation  Mr.  Emmet  had  of 
his  brother's  actual  connection  with  the  movement. 

quently  interrupt  Robert  Emmet  by  uncalled-for  charges  in  reference  to  the 
French  and  by  annoying  remarks,  probably  hoping  to  irritate  him  and  make 
him  lose  the  thread  of  his  argument  and  if  possible  to  prevent  him  from  pub- 
licly exposing,  as  Emmet  wished  to  do,  the  true  condition  of  the  country  and 
the  reason  for  the  uprising  of  the  people." 

In  no  instance  did  Robert  Emmet  refer  to  the  French  but  in  response  and 
if  it  was  decided  upon  beforehand  that  he  should  not  be  allowed  to  speak  upon 
any  other  subject,  it  would  not  have  been  difficult  to  print  beforehand  the 
version  which  was  given  to  the  people  and  which  he  never  uttered. 

In  comparison  with  broadsides  usually  issued  under  such  circumstances,  this 
one  is  too  elaborate  and  costly  for  the  price  and  as  a  business  venture.  In  ad- 
dition to  misleading  the  people  as  to  Mr.  Emmet's  advice  to  his  countrymen, 
it  may  have  been  considered  of  equal  importance  to  impress  the  people  by  the 
likenesses  of  certain  prominent  persons,  who  would  be  thus  shown  in  sympathy 
with  the  Government  by  their  presence,  so  that  its  genuine  character  should 
not  be  denied  nor  questioned.  It  is  therefore  not  improbable  that  Shea  was 
commissioned  by  the  Government  and  his  proximity  to  Trinity  College  adds 
to  this  belief. 

'  The  Emmet  Fajnily,  etc.,  p.  158. 

'  See  Appendix  for  reprint. 


2  70  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

The  probabilities  are  that  when  Robert  Emmet  was  per- 
suaded to  return  to  Ireland  by  the  agent  of  the  British  Gov- 
ernment he  felt  pledged  to  keep  his  own  counsel.  There 
exists  no  evidence  that  Robert  Emmet  had  belonged  to  the 
organization  of  the  United  Irishmen  previous  to  his  return, 
as  he  had  been  out  of  Ireland  since  he  resigned  from  college. 
Thomas  Addis  Emmet  shows  by  his  diary  that  he  was  the 
secret  agent  in  Paris  of  the  United  Irishmen  but,  not  ex- 
pecting an  actual  outbreak  until  he  could  obtain  a  pledge 
of  aid  from  France,  he  apparently  said  nothing  to  his  brother 
about  his  mission  or  about  the  United  Irishmen,  thus  show- 
ing, in  all  likelihood,  that  Robert  was  not  a  member  of 
that  organization. 

Robert  Emmet  on  the  other  hand,  being  ignorant  until 
his  return  to  Ireland  of  his  brother's  special  connection  with 
the  United  Irishmen,  naturally  did  not  disclose  the  plot 
confided  to  him  in  confidence  by  the  British  agent.  There- 
fore a  visit  to  his  parents,  before  going  to  America  with  his 
brother  and  relatives,  was  no  doubt  made  to  appear  as  the 
ostensible  reason  for  his  visit  to  Ireland.  When  Robert 
Emmet  reached  Dublin  he  found,  as  he  stated,  a  movement 
already  organized  and  "the  business  ripe  for  execution." 
How  much  of  this  was  prepared  for  his  benefit  by  the 
agents  of  the  Government  has  yet  to  be  discovered ;  but 
it  is  likely  that  the  organization  formed  by  the  United 
Irishmen  was  a  different  movement  and  of  its  existence  at 
that  time  the  English  Government  probably  had  but  little 
knowledge.  But  the  fact  was  doubtless  known  to  the  Gov- 
ernment, as  it  was  an  open  secret  in  Paris,  that  the  French 
were  preparing  and  were  anxious  to  aid  the  Irish  in  gaining 
their  absolute  independence.  To  counteract  this  friendly 
feeling  the  British  Government  seized  the  opportunity  of 
misrepresenting  Robert  Emmet's  speech,  to  destroy,  if  pos- 
sible, all  this  interest  on  the  part  of  the  French  Government. 

Mr.  Emmet's  "trial"  was  terminated  by  the  death  sen- 
tence at  half-past  ten  o'clock  at  night,  the  prisoner  having 
been  kept  fasting  and  standing  in  the  dock  all  day.     It  will 


The  Death  of  Robert  Emmet  271 

be  seen,  however,  by  the  charge  made  against  the  Govern- 
ment for  maintaining  prisoners  in  Newgate  that  three  shill- 
ings and  sixpence  was  the  cost  of  Robert  Emmet's  support 
on  the  day  of  his  trial.' 

Robert  Emmet  was  hung  at  an  early  hour  on  the  follow- 
ing day,  September  20,  1803,  in  Thomas  Street,  Dublin, 
nearly  opposite  St.  Catherine's  Church,  and  after  the  exe- 
cution his  head  was  severed  from  the  body  and  by  the  hand 
of  the  executioner  was  presented  to  the  surrounding  rabble 
of  English  sympathizers  as  the  head  of  a  traitor.' 

'This  document,  which  has  been  reproduced,'^  was  doubtless  another  of  the 
State  Papers  which  disappeared  with  the  chest  which  had  been  put  aside  in 
Dublin  Castle.  It  is  signed  by  Trevor,  the  Superintendent  or  Head  Gaoler  of 
Newgate  and  Kilmainham  prisons,  a  man  whose  genius  for  devising  different 
methods  of  torture,  to  increase  the  misery  and  suffering  of  the  unfortunate 
prisoners  entrusted  to  his  care,  has  been  equalled  by  one  individual  only  within 
the  knowledge  of  the  writer.  This  distinction  may  rest  with  Major  Cunning- 
ham, who  was  the  presiding  genius  in  charge  of  the  New  York  Provost  Jail 
and  Sugar  House  prisons  during  the  time  the  British  troops  held  the  city  of 
New  York  in  the  Revolution.  So  long  as  a  page  of  American  history  is  pre- 
served Cunningham  will  be  remembered,  for  the  same  reason  the  name  of 
Trevor  will  not  be  forgotten  in  Ireland.  This  man  would  torture,  scourge  and 
half  hang  his  prisoners  apparently  for  his  own  amusement  and  often  without 
provocation.  It  has  been  affirmed  that  he  stated  his  object  was  simply  "to 
create  a  healthy  dread  "  on  the  part  of  the  prisoners  "  for  their  master." 

*  The  Emmet  Family,  etc.,  p.  165. 

'For  a  history  of  the  investigations  undertaken,  as  this  work  was  going  to 
press,  to  determine  the  actual  grave  of  Robert  Emmet,  see  Appendix,  note  23. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

THE  GOVERNMENT  OF  IRELAND  FOR  A  CENTURY — NUMBER 
OF  COERCION  ACTS  —  PARLIAMENT  INDIFFERENT  TO 
IRELAND'S  WELFARE  —  LOCAL  GOVERNMENT  ACT  FOR 
IRELAND  EXCLUDES  THE  RIGHTS  WHICH  THE  ENGLISH 
AND  SCOTCH  COUNCILS  POSSESS 

The  history  of  the  past  century  since  the  "Union  "  has 
been  a  dreary  and  heartrending  one  for  Ireland,  showing  a 
degree  of  misery  and  suffering  no  other  people  have  ever 
endured  within  the  same  space  of  time.  With  all  of  Eng- 
land's "paternal  care"  no  less  than  eighty-six  "Coercion 
Acts,"  with  several  yearly  extensions  by  special  vote,  have 
been  passed  within  this  period  "to  pacify  the  people." 

And,  notwithstanding  that  there  has  existed  in  Ireland 
less  crime  in  proportion  to  its  population  than  in  any  other 
country,  the  British  Parliament  each  year  has  passed  the 
"Expiring  Laws  Continuation  Bill,"  by  which  the  last 
Coercion  Act  or,  as  it  is  termed,  the  "Peace  Preservation 
Act  for  Ireland,"  is  made  continuous! 

According  to  Fox  ' : 

"  These  Coercion  enactments,  in  fact,  have  been  so  numerous, 
and  have  been  in  force  so  continuously  for  the  last  eighty-five 
years  (1887)  in  Ireland,  that  for  that  period  what  is  called  the 
'  ordinary  law  '  has  been  the  exception  in  that  country  and  ex- 
traordinary legislation  utterly  subversive  of  the  ordinary  law  has 
been  the  rule.  That  is  to  say,  '  Maintaining  the  undisputed 
supremacy  of  the  law  '  has  meant  in  the  course  of  the  last  eighty- 
five  years  the  passage  of  eighty-six  Coercion  Acts,  either  new  or 
continuations  of  old  ones;    the  existence,  almost  continuously, 

'  Pp.  S0-S3. 
272 


Annual  Coercion  Acts  for  Eighty-five  Years  273 

ever  since  the  first  year  of  the  Union,  of  one  or  two  Coercion 
codes  which,  as  we  shall  see,  outrage  the  most  cherished  princi- 
ples of  public  and  personal  liberty ;  the  all  but  complete  and  con- 
tinuous supersession  during  that  period  of  the  ordinary  law,  as  it 
is  known  in  England  and  Scotland." 

The  same  author  quotes  from  Earl  Grey : 

"  It  is  full  time  to  have  done  with  coercion;  Ireland  has  been 
misgoverned;  there  have  been  too  many  Arms  Acts  and  Curfew 
Acts;  it  is  justice  that  is  wanted  now." 

And  he  states : 

'•  It  was  during  this  debate — March,  1846 — that  Lord  Grey  re- 
viewed the  history  of  all  the  martial  laws  and  exceptional  meas- 
ures in  force  in  Ireland  from  the  time  of  the  Union;  reminding 
the  House  how  in  1800,  Habeas  Corpus  had  been  suspended 
under  the  action  of  a  law — 'for  the  suppression  of  the  rebellion,' — 
how  that  law  had  been  put  into  force  both  in  1801,  and  again  in 
1804,  how  it  had  been  superseded  in  1807  by  the  '  Insurrection 
Act,'  in  force  until  18 10, — how,  reviewed  in  1814,  it  had  been 
enforced  during  the  years  1815,  1816,  181 7, — how,  reviewed  in 
1822,  and  sanctioned  successively  by  the  Parliaments  of  1823, 
1824,  and  1825,  it  had,  with  only  some  shght  modifications,  been 
enforced  in  1833  and  1834,  and  had  ceased  only  in  1839.  For 
eighty-six  years  the  British  Parliament  had  been  legislating  for 
Ireland.  What  has  been  accomplished,  and  by  what  means  ? 
The  reply  is  by  no  means  flattering.  One  of  the  very  first  con- 
ditions of  national  prosperity  is  in  the  undisturbed  continuance 
of  wise  and  righteous  laws.  This  point  cannot  be  better  put 
than  in  the  words  of  Earl  Grey: 

"  '  Do  you  suppose  that  men  can  embark  in  great  enterprises 
of  industry  and  commerce  when  they  cannot  venture  outside  their 
own  houses  after  dark  unless  at  the  risk  of  being  transported  ? 
Until y oil,  can  establish  security  on  some  better  foundation^  and  make 
it  compatible  with  a  return  to  the  ordinary  law  and  constitution,  re- 
stricting the  executive  Government  to  its  constitutional  powers — till 
you  can  do  that,  you  have  done  nothing.'  " 

To  show  the  reader  the  consideration  for  brute  force  with 
which  the  British  Parliament  has  treated  the  Irish  people 


VOL.  I. — 18. 


2  74 


Ireland  under  English  Rule 


since  the  "Union,"  now  existing  for  nearly  a  century,  and 
how  indifferent,  as  of  old,  Parliament  has  been  during  the 
same  period  to  the  prosperity  of  the  country,  the  following 
list  of  the  various  Coercion  Acts  in  the  interest  of  the  land- 
lord are  presented  ' : 


1800-5     Habeas  Corpus  Suspension  ; 

1846     Constabulary  Enlargement. 

seven  Coercion  Acts. 

1847     Crimes  and  Outrage  Act. 

1807     1st    February,    Coercion    Act ; 

1848     Treason      Amendment      Act ; 

Habeas   Corpus  Suspension  ;    2d 

Removal  of  Arms  Act ;  Suspen- 

August, Insurrection  Act. 

sion  of  Habeas  Corpus ;  another 

1808-9     Habeas  Corpus  Suspension. 

Oaths  Act. 

1814-16     Habeas  Corpus  Suspension  ; 

1849     Suspension  of  Habeas  Corpus. 

Insurrection  Act. 

1850     Crime  and  Outrage  Act. 

1817     Habeas     Corpus     Suspension ; 

185 1     Unlawful  Oaths  Act. 

one  Coercion  Act. 

1853     Crime  and  Outrage  Act. 

1822-30     Habeas  Corpus  Suspension  ; 

1854     Crime  and  Outrage  Act. 

two  Coercion  Acts  in    1822  and 

1855     Crime  and  Outrage  Act. 

one  in  1823. 

1856     Peace  Preservation  Act. 

1830     Importation  of  Anns  Act. 

1858     Peace  Preservation  Act. 

1831     WhiteboyAct;  Stanley's  Arms 

i860     Peace  Preservation  Act. 

Act. 

1862     Peace   Preservation  Act  ;  Un- 

1832    Arms  and  Gunpowder  Act. 

lawful  Oaths  Act. 

1833     Suppression    of     Disturbance ; 

1865     Peace  Preservation  Act. 

Change  of  Venue  Act. 

1866     Suspension  of  Habeas  Corpus 

1834     Disturbances  Amendment  and 

Act,     August ;      Suspension     of 

Continuance ;    Arms    and    Gun- 

Habeas Corpus. 

powder  Act. 

1867     Suspension  of  Habeas  Corpus. 

1835     Public  Peace  Act. 

1868     Suspension  of  Habeas  Corpus. 

1836     Another  Arms  Act. 

1870     Peace  Preservation  Act. 

1838     Another  Arms  Act. 

1871     Protection  of  Life  and  Prop- 

1839    Unlawful  Oaths  Act. 

erty  ;  Peace  Preservation  Cont. 

1840     Another  Arms  Act. 

1873     Peace  Preservation  Act. 

1 841     Outrages  Act  ;    another  Arms 

1875     Peace    Preservation  Act ;    Un- 

Act. 

lawful  Oaths  Act. 

1843     Another  Arms  Act  ;    Act  con- 

1881-2    Peace  Preservation  Act ;  Sus- 

solidating  all  previous  Coercion 

pending  Habeas  Corpus. 

Acts. 

1881-6     Arms  Act. 

1844     Unlawful  Oaths  Act. 

1882-5     Crimes  Act. 

1845     Additional     Constables     near 

1886-7     Arms  Act. 

Public   Works    Acts ;     Unlawful 

Oaths  Act, 

'  From  Fox,  p.  80,  as  "Compiled  from  Mr.  T.  P.  O'Connor's  recently  pub- 
lished volume.  The  Parnell  Movement"  p.  21,  "and  from  a  pamphlet  pub- 
lished a  few  years  since  by  Mr.  I.  S.  Leadam,  an  English  writer." 


Effect  of  Coercion  Acts  in  Ireland       275 

As  already  stated  Parliament  has,  each  j^ear  to  date, 
passed  the  "Expiring  Laws  Continuation  Bill,"  by  which 
the  last  "Peace  Preservation  Act  "  is  made  continuous  ' : 

"  The  last  Coercion  Act  of  1882,  which  expired  in  1885,  was,  in 
many  of  its  provisions,  the  most  drastic  measure  of  the  kind  which 
ever  passed  through  Parliament.  It  has  been  described  as  the  quint- 
essence of  the  innumerable  enactments  of  the  same  kind  by  which 
it  was  preceded.  It  contained  in  one  form  or  another,  almost  all 
the  worst  provisions  of  almost  all  the  other  Coercion  Acts,  with  the 
additional  provision  for  doing  away  with  juries  altogether,  and  mak- 
ing the  members  of  the  judicial  bench  act  as  jurymen  as  well  as 
judges.  ,  .  .  The  coercion  system,  thus,  instead  of  becoming  mil- 
der with  time,  becomes  in  its  latest  development  extremely  harsh 
and  stringent,  and  in  some  respects,  even  more  harsh  and  stringent 
than  ever  before;  because  the  Crimes  Act  of  1882  brought  into 
play,  simultaneously,  a  number  of  coercionist  instruments  which 
previously  had  not  been  provided  for  in  any  single  statute." 

Mr.  Fox  also  states : 

"  The  conquest  of  Ireland  was  begun  in  the  twelfth  century: 
To-day  even  that  conquest  is  not  definitely  accomplished,  and  it 
would  seem  as  though  the  victor  feared  that,  at  any  moment,  the 
prize  might  slip  from  his  grasp.  Hence  the  system  of  distrust 
and  legal  precaution,  and  those  coercion  measures  which  are 
subversive  of  the  general  principles  of  the  British  Constitution. 
Hence  that  contempt  for  common  right,  and  the  reign  of  excep- 
tional legislation  which  brands  a  whole  people  with  suspicion,  and 
perpetually  thrusts  upon  them  the  stigma  of  their  composing  a 
vanquished  nation.  It  is  said  that  the  British  Constitution  is 
based  upon  trial  by  jury  and  the  Habeas  Corpus  Act;  but  the 
foregoing  list  of  Coercion  Acts  shows  what  becomes  of  these 
fundamental  safeguards  whenever  State  reasons  interfere  between 
the  governors  and  the  governed  in  Ireland." 

In  the  House  of  Commons,  Lord  Brougham  also  de- 
nounced coercion : 

"  We  are  driving  six  millions  of  people  to  despair,  to  madness! 
The  greatest  mockery  of  all — the  most  intolerable  insult 
'  Fox,  p.  85. 


276  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

— the  cause  of  peculiar  exasperation — against  which  I  chiefly 
caution  the  House,  is  the  undertaking  to  cure  the  distress  under 
which  Ireland  labours  by  anything  in  the  shape  of  new  penal 
enactments.  It  is  in  these  enactments  alone  that  we  have  shown 
our  liberality  to  Ireland!  She  has  received  Penal  Laws  from  the 
hands  of  England  almost  as  plentifully  as  she  has  received  bless- 
ings from  the  hands  of  Providence!  What  have  these  laws 
done?  Checked  her  turbulence,  but  not  stifled  it.  The  grievance 
remaining  perpetually,  the  complaint  can  only  be  postponed. 
We  may  load  her  with  chains,  but  in  doing  so  we  shall  not  better 
her  condition.  By  coercion  we  may  goad  her  on  to  fury;  but  by 
coercion  we  shall  never  break  her  spirit.  She  will  rise  up  and 
break  the  fetters  we  impose,  and  arm  herself  for  deadly  violence 
with  the  fragments."  ' — Speeches.,  vol.  iv. 

The  following  table,  although  incomplete,  shows  the  con- 
stant rejection  of  Land  Bills  from  1829  and  is  in  grim  and 
melancholy  contrast  with  another  table — already  given — of 
statistics  compiled  to  show  the  facility  with  which  Coercion 
Acts,  almost  as  numerous,  were  passed,  sometimes  hurriedly, 
through  both  houses  of  Parliament  within  the  same  period 
of  half  a  century  : 

1829  Brownlow's  Bill  dropped  in  Lords. 

1830  Grattan's  Waste  Land  Bill,  refused. 

1831  Smith's  Bill  for  Relief  of  the  Aged,  dropped. 

1835  Sharman  Crawford's  Bill,  dropped. 

1836  Sharman  Crawford's  Bill,  dropped. 
1836  Lynch's  Reclamation  Bill,  dropped. 
1845  Lord  Stanley's  Bill,  dropped. 

1845  Sharman  Crawford's  Bill,  dropped. 

1846  Mr.  Sharman  Crawford,  abortive. 

1846  Lord  Lincoln,  Secretary  of  Ireland,  abortive. 

1847  Mr.  Sharman  Crawford,  abortive. 

1848  Sir  W.  Somerville,  abortive. 

1848  Mr.  Sharman  Crawford,  abortive. 

1849  Mr.  Pusey,  abortive. 

1850  Sir  W.  Somerville,  abortive. 

1850  Mr.  S.  Crawford,  abortive. 

185 1  Mr.  S.  Crawford,  abortive. 

1852  Mr.  S.  Crawford,  abortive. 

1853  Mr.  Napier,  abortive. 

1853  Mr.  Sergeant  Shee,  abortive. 

1855  Mr.  Sergeant  Shee,  abortive. 

1856  Mr.  Moore,  abortive. 

1857  Mr.  Moore,  abortive. 
185S  Mr.  Maguire,  abortive. 

'  Fox,  p.  104. 


List  of  Rejected  Land  Bills 


277 


1871 

1872 
1873 
1873 

1873 

1874 

1874 

1874 
1874 
1875 
1875 

1876 

1876 
1876 
1877 
1877 

1878 

1878 

1878 

li 
lE 

1879 
1879 
1879 
1879 

1879 


18S0 
1880 
1880 


1886 


Landed  Property,  Ireland,  Act  1847, 
Amendment  Bill 

Ulster  Tenant  Right  Bill 

Ulster  Tenant  Right  Bill 

Landlord  and  Tenant  Act,  1870,  Amend- 
ment Bill 

Landlord  and  Tenant  Act,  1870,  Amend- 
ment Bill,  No.  2 

Landlord  and  Tenant  Act,  1870,  Amend- 
ment Bill - 

Landlord  and  Tenant  Act,  1870,  Amend- 
ment Bill,  No.  2 

Ulster  Tenant  Right  Bill 

Irish  Land  Act  Extension  Bill 

Landed  Proprietors,  Ireland,  Bill 

Landlord  and  Tenant,  Ireland,  Act  1870, 
Amendment  Bill 

Landlord  and  Tenant,  Ireland,  Act  1870, 
Amendment  Bill 

Tenant  Right  on  Expiration  of  Leases  Bill 

Land  Tenure,  Ireland,  Bill 

Land  Tenure,  Ireland,  Bill 

Landlord  and  Tenant,  Ireland,  Act  1870, 
Amendment  Bill 

Landlord  and  Tenant,  Ireland,  Act  1870, 
Amendment  Bill 

Tenant  Right  Bill 


Tenant  Right,  Ulster,  Bill 

Tenants'  Improvements,  Ireland,  Bill.  . .  . 

Tenants'  Protection,  Ireland,  Bill 

Ulster  Tenant  Right  Bill 

Ulster  Tenant  Right  Bill,  No.  2 

Landlord  and  Tenant,  Ireland,  Bill 

Landlord  and  Tenant,  Ireland,  Act  1870, 

A  mendment  Bill 

Landlord  and  Tenant,  Ireland,  Act  1870 

Amendment  Bill,  No.  2 

Landlord  and  Tenant,  Ireland,  Act  1870 

Amendment  Bill 

Ulster  Tenants'  Right  Bill 

Fixity  of  Tenure,  Ireland,  Bill 

Landlord  and  Tenant,  Ireland,  Act  1870 

Amendment  Bill 

Compensation   for    Disturbance,    Ireland 

Bill,  to  prevent  eviction  under  circum 

stances  of  excessive  hardship 


INTRODUCED  BY 


Sergeant  Sherlock 

Mr.  Butt 

Mr.  Butt 


Mr.  Butt. . , 
Mr.  Heron. 


Mr.  Butt. 


Sir  J.  Grey 

Mr.  Butt 

The.  O'Donoghue 
Mr.  Smyth 


Mr.  Crawford 

Mr.  Crawford. . . . 
Mr.  Mulholland. . 

Mr.  Butt 

Mr.  Butt 


Mr.  Crawford. 

Mr.  Herbert . . 
Lord  A.  Hill . 


Mr,  Macartney  , 

Mr.  Martin 

Mr.  Moore 

Mr.  Macartney 
Lord  A.  Hill.. 
Mr.  Herbert 


Tenants'  Relief,  Ireland,  Bill. 


Mr.  Taylor. . . 
Mr.  Downing. 


Mr.  Taylor. . . . 
Mr.  Macartney 
Mr.  Litton.  . . . 


Mr.  O'C.  Power 

Mr.  W,  E.  Forster 
Mr.  C.  S.  Parnell 


Withdrawn 

Dropped 

Dropped 

Dropped 

Dropped 

Dropped 

Dropped 
Dropped 
Dropped 
Dropped 

Rejected 

Withdrawn 
Dropped 
Rejected 
Rejected 

Withdrawn 

Dropped 
Rejected 

by  Lords 
Withdrawn 
Rejected 
Dropped 
Rejected 
Withdrawn 
Dropped 

Dropped 

Rejected 

Dropped 
Dropped 
Rejected 

Dropped 


Rejected 

by  Lords 
Rejected 


2']'^  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

Carte  has  stated  ' : 

"  The  Enghsh  seem  never  to  have  understood  the  art  of  gov- 
erning their  provinces  and  have  always  treated  them  in  such  a 
manner,  as  either  to  put  them  under  a  necessity  or  subject  them 
to  the  temptation,  of  casting  off  their  government  whenever  an 
opportunity  offered.  It  was  a  series  of  this  impohtic  conduct 
which  lost  them  Normandy,  Poictou,  Anjou,  Guyenne,  and  all 
the  dominions  which  they  formerly  had  in  France.  ...  It 
is  not  a  little  surprising  that  a  thinking  people,  as  the  English 
are,  should  not  grow  wiser  by  any  experience,  and  after  losing 
such  considerable  territories  abroad  by  their  oppressive  treatment 
of  them,  should  go  on  to  hazard  the  loss  of  Ireland,  and  endeavor 
the  ruin  of  a  colony  of  their  own  countrymen  planted  in  that 
kingdom." 

Carte  was  writing  in  relation  to  the  condition  of  affairs  in 
Ireland  in  1666. 

As  a  rule  the  House  of  Commons  has  been  indifferent 
to  Ireland's  welfare  and  whatever  action  has  been  taken 
by  that  body  was  directed  chiefly  to  holding  Ireland  by 
the  throat.  Yet  at  times  there  were  individuals  with  the 
forethought  of  statesmen  who  laid  aside  their  British 
prejudices  against  the  Irish  people  and  made  honest  effort 
in  the  House  of  Commons  to  right  the  wrongs  attending 
the  misgovernment  of  that  unhappy  country.  Such  efforts, 
having  passed  the  House  of  Commons,  were  almost  in- 
variably defeated  by  the  action  of  the  House  of  Lords,  as 
the  members  of  this  body  have  never  assented  willingly  to 
the  passage  of  any  measure  relating  to  Ireland  unless  it  were 
a  coercion  bill  or  some  provision  detrimental  to  the  welfare 
of  the  country.  In  truth  it  may  be  held  that  the  Lords 
of  England  for  several  hundred  years  past  have  been  re- 
sponsible, directly  or  indirectly,  for  the  greater  part  of  Ire- 
land's suffering  and  have  been  generally  the  direct  cause  of 
the  misgovernment  of  the  country,  as  the  head  of  the  Min- 
istry was  generally  taken  from  that  body.     At  one  period 

'Vol.  iv.,  pp.  232,  233. 


The  English  House  of  Lords  279 

the  House  of  Lords  was  a  powerful  organization,  as  it  repre- 
sented the  wealth,  education  and  political  influence  of  the 
country  as  well  as  the  ofiflce-holders,  who  constituted  a  class 
almost  entirely  composed  of  their  impecunious  relatives. 
But  they  have  long  lost  the  blind  reverence  of  the  people 
and  as  constituted  at  present  it  would  be  difficult  to  con- 
ceive of  a  more  useless  appendage  to  the  body  politic  than 
the  English  House  of  Lords.  The  Lords  no  longer  repre- 
sent more  than  their  own  personal  interests  and  those  of 
their  kinsmen,  the  Irish  landlords.  Moreover,  they  have 
long  since  become  blind  to  the  fact  that  their  course  of 
action  must  surely  lead  to  their  own  elimination.  No  one 
can  better  recognize  the  drift  of  public  opinion  than  a 
stranger  travelling  through  the  country,  especially  if  he 
judiciously  seeks  for  information  from  the  people  about  him. 
This  the  writer  has  frequently  done  and  he  is  convinced 
that  a  great  change  in  public  opinion  has  taken  place  in 
England  during  the  past  thirty  years.  Her  late  Majesty, 
from  living  an  exemplary  private  life,  held  the  respect  of 
the  people  during  her  lifetime  and  was  succeeded  by  Ed- 
ward Vn. ;  but  for  the  future  no  one  can  do  more  than 
offer  a  conjecture.  It  is  evident,  at  least,  that  the  great 
veneration  for  royalty  and  the  nobility  that  formerly  ex- 
isted does  not  exist  in  England  to-day.  As  regards  the 
House  of  Lords  the  indications  are  clear  that  sooner  or 
later  it  will  come  into  serious  collision  with  some  action 
of  the  House  of  Commons,  not  connected  with  the  interests 
of  Ireland,  when  the  wish  of  the  people  will  then  be 
quickly  asserted.  After  some  revolutionary  movement, 
the  House  of  Lords  will  cease  to  exist  or  will  remain  as  a 
figure-head  without  the  power  longer  of  doing  harm  to 
itself  or  to  the  country.  Oliver  Cromwell,  with  all  his 
cant  and  demon-like  cruelty  to  the  Irish  people,  was  a  re- 
markable man  with  more  brains  at  his  command  than  any 
other  occupant  of  the  British  throne,  before  or  since  his 
day,  and  he  had  a  just  appreciation  of  the  need  or  value  of 
the  House  of  Lords  in  the  management  of  public  affairs. 


28o  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

Probably  another  Cromwell  in  the  future  will  settle  their 
status  permanently  for  the  benefit  of  the  country. 

The  House  of  Lords  refused  at  first  assent  to  the  Catho- 
lic Emancipation  Bill,  as  the  majority  of  its  members  have 
done  to  every  other  Act  for  the  relief  of  Ireland  which 
did  finally  pass  Parliament  under  the  pressure  of  neces- 
sity. The  Lords  have  also  frequently  blocked  the  passage 
of  measures  providing  for  important  English  interests  but 
yielded  an  unwilling  co-operation  under  the  salutary  threat 
of  the  Ministry  to  create,  if  necessary,  a  sufificient  number  of 
new  peers  to  command  a  majority  in  their  House.  The 
Duke  of  Wellington,  Sir  Robert  Peel  and  other  British 
Ministers  have  from  time  to  time  thus  figuratively  shown 
their  teeth  to  some  purpose  under  like  necessity  in  the  past 
and  Mr.  Gladstone  would  have  done  likewise,  had  he  not 
been  too  old  a  man  for  the  situation  when  the  recent  Home- 
Rule  Bill  passed  the  House  of  Commons  under  his  direction 
and  was  rejected  by  the  House  of  Lords,  with  their  usual 
indifference  to  the  welfare  of  Ireland. 

The  returns  from  the  recent  Irish  County  Council  elections 
show,  as  given  in  the  public  Press,  that  out  of  a  total  of  663 
Councilmen  chosen,  544  members  were  Nationalists  and  con- 
sequently in  favor  of  Home  Rule,  while  119  were  Unionists 
or  less  than  one-fifth  of  the  whole. 

In  Ulster,  the  "loyalist  province,"  ninety  Nationalists 
were  returned  to  eighty  Unionists,  who  received,  of  course, 
the  full  vote  of  the  Orangemen ;  thus  indicating  that  the 
National  party  represents  a  majority  of  the  inhabitants  of 
Ulster  notwithstanding  the  claims  of  the  Orangemen  to  the 
contrary. 

The  vote  of  the  Nationalists  for  the  whole  of  Ireland  was 
in  the  proportion  of  five  to  one;  in  Connaught,  Munster 
and  Leinster  combined,  it  was  thirteen  to  one  Unionist  and 
it  gave  a  majority  in  Ulster  alone.  In  other  words — out 
of  a  total  of  thirty-three  county  chairmanships  the  National 
party  gained  twenty-six  and  in  Ulster,  where  the  opposition 
or  "Union"  party  was  greater  than  in  any  other  portion 


Irish  County  Councils  281 

of  Ireland,  the  Nationalists  gained  ninety-six  district  Coun- 
cils out  of  a  total  of  one  hundred  and  thirteen ! 

This  vote  had  no  religious  bias  on  either  side,  as  a  large 
number  of  the  Protestants  are  of  the  National  party  in  Ulster 
while  many  of  the  Catholics  who  are  in  close  relation  with 
those  of  their  faith  in  England  are  opposed  to  the  National 
party  and  consequently  to  Home  Rule. 

The  Local  Government  Act  was  passed  by  Parliament 
with  the  purpose  doubtless  of  dividing  the  National  party 
on  their  demand  for  a  full  measure  of  Home  Rule  and  it 
was  equally  expected  to  furnish  the  means  by  which  the 
landlord  class  would  be  continued  in  the  control  of  local 
affairs  through  the  vote  of  their  tenants.  But  the  people, 
recognizing  their  opportunity,  united  and,  voting  by  secret 
ballot,  with  the  increased  number  franchised  through  Mr. 
Gladstone's  influence,  overwhelmed  the  Landlord  party; 
thus  the  Irish  people  have  gained  to  a  great  extent  the 
management  of  their  local  affairs.  But  instead  of  the  Local 
Government  Act  being  accepted  as  a  substitute  it  will  have 
the  effect  of  again  uniting  the  Irish  people  in  a  more  urgent 
demand  for  Home  Rule  with  their  own  Parliament.  No 
practical  advance  can  be  gained  in  the  righting  Ireland's 
wrongs  unless  the  people  thus  have  the  power  of  formu- 
lating as  well  as  enforcing  their  own  laws  to  that  end. 

The  powers  of  the  County  Councillors  are  stated  to  be : 
1st.  The  making  of  new  roads,  bridges,  quays;  2d.  The  re- 
pairing of  the  same ;  3d.  Building  and  repairing  of  courts  of 
justice;  4th.  Building  and  repairing  of  prisons;  5th.  Prison 
expenses;  6th.  Police  expenses;  7th.  Salaries  of  county 
officers;  8th.  Public  charities;  9th.  Repayment  of  Govern- 
ment advances.  As  grand  jurors  they  have  control  over 
hospitals  and  infirmaries,  the  building  and  repairing  of 
diocesan  schools,  expenses  of  inquests,  prosecution  of 
offenders,  maintaining  deserted  children,  expenses  of  gen- 
eral valuation,  expenses  of  Commissioner  of  Public  Works, 
compensation  for  malicious  injuries,  expenses  under  the 
Arms  Act  and  some  others  of  minor  importance.     To  meet 


282  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

these  expenses  the  County  Councillors  now  have  the  power 
to  regulate  and  collect  the  local  taxation.  Thus  the  peo- 
ple have  gained  a  great  advance  towards  local  Home  Rule. 
But  the  working  of  these  Councils  can  never  be  as  effica- 
cious in  practice  as  necessity  requires,  from  the  fact  that  the 
British  Parliament,  with  its  usual  lack  of  generosity  towards 
Ireland,  if  not  with  the  spirit  of  spite,  did  not  trust  the  Irish 
people  with  the  same  powers  freely  exercised  by  the  Eng- 
lish and  Scotch  Councils.  Not  only  is  the  scope  of  their 
power  less  but  the  action  of  the  Irish  Board  is  restricted 
by  checks  and  a  veto  power,  placed  with  the  Lord  Lieu- 
tenant and  others.  This  was  done  to  render  the  influence 
as  inefficient  as  possible  wherever  the  control  was  held  by 
the  Nationalists  while  the  Orangemen  and  Unionists  when 
in  the  majority  will  be  allowed  to  assume  the  power  they 
lack  and  without  question.  The  natural  consequence  will  be 
that,  instead  of  this  measure  being  satisfactory  to  any  but 
the  English  sympathizers  in  Ireland,  it  will  be  the  means  of 
firmly  uniting  the  Irish  people  in  a  determined  action  to 
obtain  the  full  management  of  their  own  affairs  as  the  only 
hope  of  gaining  peace  and  prosperity  for  the  whole  country. 

With  Home  Rule  alone  Ireland  could  not  fully  prosper, 
as  she  would  still  need  at  least  the  power  she  possessed 
under  the  Grattan  Parliament  of  regulating  the  tariff  for  the 
protection  of  her  industries,  as  is  exercised  by  Canada,  Aus- 
tralia, New  Zealand  and  other  of  the  British  provinces.  It 
would  be  necessary  to  raise  a  revenue  by  protection,  even  if 
discrimination  against  the  imports  of  England  became  exer- 
cised. No  question  seems  more  clearly  established  in  po- 
litical economy  than  the  fact  that  a  manufacturing  country 
like  England  can  only  prosper  under  free  trade  to  obtain  the 
raw  material  while  Ireland,  under  favorable  circumstances 
being  able  to  raise  an  excess  of  food  from  her  soil,  would 
need  a  protective  tariff  until  her  manufactories  became  de- 
veloped ;  then  a  compromise  would  be  necessary  to  main- 
tain the  property  of  the  most  important  interests. 

As  England  has  only  considered   her  own  interests  her 


Irish  Unity  Is  Ireland's  Hope  283 

legislation  has  necessarily  been  most  detrimental  to  the  wel- 
fare of  Ireland,  since  a  totally  different  or  directly  opposite 
condition  has  existed  in  the  two  countries ;  necessarily  the 
aid  of  different  measures  was  required  to  insure  the  pros- 
perity of  each. 

A  united  action  of  the  Irish  people  in  the  support  of  any 
demand  is  the  only  argument  which  carries  the  weight  of 
conviction  with  the  English  Parliament.  The  fact  cannot  be 
reiterated  too  often  that  the  only  time  England  has  ever 
considered  seriously  any  measure  for  Ireland's  benefit  has 
been  when  prompted  by  fear  of  an  outbreak  at  a  time  when 
the  Government  was  not  prepared.  It  was  Ireland's  oppor- 
tunity. 

It  has  been  held  that  the  past  should  now  be  forgotten 
since  within  a  recent  period  a  large  portion  of  the  people  in 
both  countries  acted  together  politically  under  Mr.  Glad- 
stone's leadership  and  that  a  more  extended  knowledge  in 
relation  to  Ireland  now  exists  among  the  English  people 
than  at  any  former  period.  History  will  show,  unfortunately, 
that  throughout  the  past  six  hundred  years  Ireland  has 
suffered  most  from  the  acts  of  those  English  officials  who 
were  best  informed  as  to  her  condition  and  it  cannot  be  for- 
gotten that  England's  representatives  in  Ireland  have  seldom 
observed  the  pledged  faith  of  their  country  longer  than  while 
England  derived  advantage  therefrom. 

Ireland  was  never  in  greater  danger  as  to  her  uncertain 
future  than  during  convalescence  from  the  brutal  infliction 
of  the  last  Coercion  Act.  It  would  be  difficult  for  the  Irish 
people  to  forget  the  circumstance  that  within  a  few  years, 
when  throughout  Ireland  as  peaceful  a  condition  existed  as 
ever  exists  in  that  unhappy  country,  when  the  degree  of 
absence  from  crime  was  noted  in  Ireland  to  an  extent  un- 
known in  England  or  in  any  other  country,  the  last  Coercion 
Act  was  passed  for  political  purposes  by  the  Tory  Parlia- 
ment and  was  precipitated  upon  the  country  with  as  little 
warning  as  the  advent  of  a  bolt  from  a  clear  sky.  Mr.  Bal- 
four, the  Irish  Secretary,  acted  so  promptly  that  within  a 


284  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

few  days,  as  he  intended,  the  whole  country  was  thrown 
into  a  state  of  turmoil  by  the  suspension  of  all  law  but  the 
brutal  promptings  of  the  Government  officials  who  in  blindly 
carrying  out  the  behest  of  their  chief  exhibited  their  only 
fitness  for  office. 

At  no  time,  in  the  absence  of  war  and  pestilence,  did  the 
Irish  people  suffer  more  under  British  rule  than  during  this 
period. 

Innocent  persons  were  murdered,  shot  down  and  kicked 
to  death  by  the  brutal  police  and  soldiers  without  even 
reprimand  from  those  in  command.  An  unknown  number 
of  men,  women,  boys  and  young  girls  were  unjustly  im- 
prisoned, often  simply  to  gratify  private  malice.  They 
were  subjected  to  bodily  violence,  they  were  starved,  they 
were  in  several  instances  deprived  of  all  clothing  in  the 
depth  of  winter  and  in  fact  subjected  to  a  degree  of  barbar- 
ous cruelty  which  only  an  English  jailer  can  inflict  when  in 
charge  of  political  prisoners.  The  murder  of  John  Mande- 
ville  is  not  likely  to  be  forgotten.  Where  direct  violence 
was  not  resorted  to  often  respectable  women  and  unmarried 
girls  of  good  social  position  were  treated  as  common  felons 
and  were  forced,  under  the  most  trivial  charges,  into  the 
company  of  prostitutes  and  the  most  abandoned  of  their 
sex.  But  the  occurrence  is  too  recent  for  any  dispassionate 
consideration  of  the  details  of  this  frightful  period  of  Ire- 
land's suffering  unless,  paradoxical  as  it  may  seem,  the 
recital  were  based  on  personal  experience ;  for  those  who 
suffered  most  have  complained  the  least,  being  too  proud  to 
gratify  the  Government  officials. 

The  reader  may  consult  the  sixteenth  chapter,  "The 
Regime  of  Brutality, ' '  in  TJic  Parnell  Movement,  etc. ,  by  T. 
P.  O'Connor,  M.P.,  New  York  edition.  The  full  evidence 
is  there  given  that  the  brutal  instincts  of  a  British  official  in 
charge  of  political  prisoners  in  Ireland  have  not  changed 
from  the  days  of  Queen  Elizabeth  to  those  of  her  late 
gracious  Majesty,  Queen  Victoria. 

The  last  experience  the  Irish  have  had  teaches  but  the 


Home  Rule  Necessary  for  Ireland      285 

same  lesson,  that  the  only  protection  for  them  is  to  gain  as 
soon  as  possible  the  control  of  their  own  domestic  affairs,  by 
which  they  will  be  in  a  position  to  command  respect. 

If  England  will  blindly  persist  in  refusing  to  recognize 
the  advantage  which  must  accrue  to  both  countries  from 
granting  Home  Rule — then  Ireland  will  stand  justified  before 
the  world  in  seeking  as  soon  as  possible  total  separation. 
By  this  means  only  can  she  gain  future  prosperity  in  the 
preservation  of  her  people  from  forced  emigration  as  well 
as  maintain  her  nationality  by  the  preservation  of  her 
language,  literature  and  traditions. 

The  skill  of  a  soothsayer  is  not  necessary  to  realize  the 
fact  that  there  does  not  exist  on  the  earth  a  Government 
with  so  friendly  a  feeling  for  England  that  it  would  not  be 
forced  by  a  majority  of  its  people  to  aid  Ireland  in  gaining 
and  in  maintaining  her  independence,  if  once  the  initiative 
were  taken  by  a  united  people  and  could  be  sustained  for  a 
few  weeks. 


CHAPTER   XVIII 

THE    TRUE    CONDITION     OF    ULSTER  —  ITS    MORALS    AND 

PROSPERITY 

Having  in  a  former  chapter  disposed  of  the  Orangemen, 
it  is  not  inappropriate  that  we  consider  at  some  length  the 
condition  of  Ulster  which,  having  been  a  supposed  Protes- 
tant section  for  some  three  hundred  years,  was  in  conse- 
quence more  favored  by  the  British  Government  than  any 
other  portion  of  Ireland. 

For  the  past  one  hundred  years  its  affairs  have  been 
chiefly  directed  by  the  Orangemen.  Until  the  passage  of 
the  Catholic  Emancipation  Bill  the  ruling,  in  accord  with 
the  law,  was  that  a  "Papist"  had  no  legal  existence  nor 
recognition  in  Ireland ;  and  this  was  particularly  the  case  in 
Ulster.  Consequently,  whenever  it  was  possible  to  do  so, 
the  British  Government  has  carefully  cared  for  the  prosperity 
of  Ulster  so  far  at  least  as  the  interests  of  the  Orangemen 
were  concerned  and  this  has  been  the  course  of  every  ad- 
ministration without  reference  to  English  politics.  No 
measure  for  the  relief  of  Ireland  has  within  this  period  been 
seriously  considered  by  the  Government,  unless  it  first  met 
with  the  approval  of  the  Orangemen  of  Ulster  and  they 
were  to  be  chiefly  benefited  thereby. 

The  writer  had  already  collected  a  mass  of  material  bear- 
ing on  the  subject  before  the  little  work  by  J.  C.  Fox '  came 
under  his  observation.  He  found  the  Ulster  Question 
treated  of  in  so  thorough  a  manner  as  to   embody  much 

'P.  150. 
286 


Is  Ulster  Protestant  ?  287 

more  information  from  official  reports  on  the  subject  than 
he  could  obtain  from  any  other  source.  The  reader  will 
therefore  be  given  the  benefit  of  the  greater  portion  of  the 
seventeenth  chapter  bearing  on  this  subject : 

THE    ULSTER    QUESTION  :    IS   THE    PROVINCE    PROTESTANT  ? 

' '  Ulster^  tried  by  every  test  of  wealth,  education,  and  the  comfort- 
able dwellings  of  the  people,  is  far  in  advance  of  the  southern  and 
western  provinces  of  Ireland — an  exploded  superstition. 

"  It  is  still  so  commonly  understood  in  England,  although  with- 
out the  slightest  warrant,  that  Ulster  is  almost  an  exclusively 
Protestant  province,  it  may  be  rendering  a  service  to  the  politics 
of  common-sense  to  expose  the  fallacy  once  more,  even  though  it 
should  be  for  the  hundredth  time.  The  Times  (London)  with 
characteristic  enterprise,  found  out  this  fallacy  some  time  ago, 
and  uttered  the  following  thoughtful  reflections  on  the  fact  in 
June,  1884: 

' '  '  The  truth  is  that  Ulster  is  by  no  means  the  homogeneous  Orange 
and  Protestant  comtnunity  which  it  suits  the  Orangemen  to  represefit 
it.  In  some  counties  the  Catholics  are  in  a  large  majority,  and  it 
must  be  acknowledged,  we  fear,  that  the  Nationalists  have  a  much 
stronger  hold  on  many  parts  of  Ulster  than  it  is  at  all  satisfactory  to 
contemplate. ' 

'*The  following  figures,  compiled  from  the  Census  returns  of 
1881,'  furnish  very  instructive  reading,  especially  for  those  per- 
sons who  have  been  so  far  misled  by  the  '  heedless  rhetoric  '  of 
the  platform  and  the  Press  as  to  imagine  that  the  Northern  Irish 
province  is  exclusively,  or  even  essentially,  Protestant  in  its 
population : 

Antrim  County  Armagh  County 

Catholics 107,175  Catholics 75,709 

Episcopalians 96,415  Episcopalians 53, 390 

Presbyterians 178,415  Presbyterians 26,077 

Methodists 11,407  Methodists 4,884 

Other  denominations 18,350  Other  denominations 3,109 

•  Notwithstanding  the  great  Catholic  emigration  which  has  continued  from 
Ireland  during  the  past  twenty  years,  the  recent  census  shows  that  the  Cath- 
olics have  not  lost  ground  in  Ulster  during  this  period  but  have  actually 
gained. 


Ireland  under  English  Rule 


Cavan  County 

Catholics 104,685 

Episcopalians 19,022 

Presbyterians 4,396 

Methodists i,oSS 

Other  denominations 285 

Donegal  County 

Catholics 157,608 

Episcopalians 24,759 

Presbyterians 20,784 

Methodists 2,014 

Other  denominations 870 

Down  County 

Catholics 81,080 

Episcopalians 63,721 

Presbyterians 109,220 

Methodists 5,055 

Other  denominations 12,957 

Derry  County 

Catholics 73,274 

Episcopalians 31,596 

Presbyterians 54,727 

Methodists 938 

Other  denominations 4,426 


Fermanagh  County 

Catholics 47,359 

Episcopalians 30,874 

Presbyterians 1,708 

Methodists 4,863 

Other  denominations 57 

Monaghan  County 

Catholics 75,714 

Episcopalians 13,623 

Presbyterians 12,213 

Methodists 514 

Other  denominations 652 

Tyrone  County 

Catholics 109,793 

Episcopalians 44,256 

Presbyterians 38,564 

Methodists 3,597 

Other  denominations 1.499 

Carrickfergus,  County  of  the 
Town  of. 

Catholics 1,169 

Episcopalians 1,746 

Presbyterians 5,525 

Methodists 435 

Other  denominations 1,127  " 


Summary  of  the  population  of  the  counties  of  Ulster, 
showing  the  numerical  strength  of  its  three  great  religious 
bodies : 

Catholics 833,566 

Episcopalians 379,402 

Presbyterians 451,629 

"And  the  foresight  of  the  Times  in  1884  was  proved  to  dem- 
onstrate at  the  last  Election,  since  of  the  thirty-three  Ulster 
members  seventeen  are  Nationalists,  or,  in  other  words,  the 
Nationalists  representatives  of  that  province  are  actually  in  a 
majority  of  one  over  all  the  other  Ulster  members  combined." 

Of  the  nine  Ulster  counties  the  following — four  in  num- 
ber—  are  wholly  represented  by  Nationalists:  Donegal, 
Cavan,  Fermanagh,  Monaghan. 


Is  Ulster  Prosperous  ?  289 

"Of  the  other  five  Ulster  counties,  there  is  now  not  one  in 
which  the  Nationalists  do  not  hold  one  or  more  seats.  Thus,  of 
the  four  seats  in  Tyrone,  they  have  two;  of  the  four  Down  seats 
they  have  one;  of  the  three  seats  for  Derry  they  have  one;  of  the 
three  Armagh  seats  they  have  one;  and  of  the  Antrim  seats,  the 
Nationalists  now  hold  West  Belfast.  Instead,  therefore,  of  Ulster 
being  a  Protestant  province,  it  is  simply  a  province  whose  extreme 
eastern  portion  is  overwhelmingly  Protestant,  in  contrast  to  its 
western,  central,  and  southern  portions,  which  are  overwhelm- 
ingly Catholic. 

"  The  overwhelmingly  Protestant  division  comprises  one-fourth 
of  the  area,  and  about  two-fifths  of  the  population,  and  three 
counties;  the  overwhelmingly  Catholic  division  comprises  three- 
fifths  of  the  population,  and  three-fourths  of  the  area,  and  six 
counties." 

IS   ULSTER    WEALTHY  ? 

"Another  popular  superstition  prevails  very  widely  in  England 
and  that  is,  that  Ulster  is  exceptionally  prosperous  and  that  this 
is  so  because  it  is  the  abode  of  Protestantism.  If  Ulster  were 
exceptionally  prosperous,  the  fact  could  be  easily  accounted  for, 
without  taking  into  consideration  the  very  peculiar  loyalty  of  some 
of  its  inhabitants.  It  was  there  only  that,  before  recent  land 
legislation,  any  limit  was  put  by  the  custom  of  tenant  right  to 
oppression  by  the  landlords,  and  Ulster  possessed  the  one  Irish 
industry — linen — which  was  not  entirely  crushed  out  of  existence 
by  British  law  and  policy.  Mr.  T.  Galloway  Rigg,  a  Scotch 
statistician,  has  exploded  this  fallacy  with  aid  of  Parliamentary 
returns,  moved  for  by  Mr.  Peter  Rylands  and  Mr.  Trevelyan,  in 
1882  and  1884  respectively.  Mr.  Ryland's  return  gives  the  in- 
come tax  assessments  for  the  four  Irish  provinces  as  follows: 


INCOME   TAX,  INCOME   TAX, 

POPULATION  ASSESSMENTS  ASSESSMENT  PER 

1881  1870-1880  INHABITANT 

Leinster 1,282,881 ;^I3,272,202 ;^io     69 

Munster 1,323,910 7,980,076 607 

Ulster 1,739,542 9,952,289 5  14  5 

Connaught 813,506 2,995,438 3  13  7 


290  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

"  But  there  is  another  comparison  to  test  the  wealth  of  the  four 
Irish  provinces,  and  that  is  exhibited  by  Mr.  Trevelyan's  return, 
giving  the  valuations  of  ratable  property  in  each  county  and 
borough  constituency,  province  by  province;  which  clearly  veri- 
fies the  reference  to  be  drawn  from  the  preceding  statistics: 

POPULATION  VALUATION   OF  VALUATION    PER 

1881  RATABLE    PROPERTY  INHABITANT 

Leinster 1,282,881 ;^4,7i i,  193 ;i^3  I3  5 

Munster 1,323,910 3,365,182 2  10  10 

Ulster 1,739,542 4,348,713 2     9  II 

Connaught 813,506 1,431,019 i  15  2 

"  So  that  whether  we  take  Income-tax  assessments  or  the 
valuation  of  ratable  property  as  a  comparative  criterion  of  wealth, 
it  is  evident  that  Ulster  must  take  third  place  in  the  roll  of  Irish 
provinces,  as  regards  comparative  wealth.  Indeed,  if  Ulster  had 
been  'exceptionally  prosperous,'  it  would  not  have  the  fatal  pre- 
eminence shown  by  the  emigration  returns  for  the  decade  187 1-8 1 ; 
for  people  do  not  usually  flee  the  country  in  which  they  are 
prosperous.  The  following  figures  show  the  ratio  in  which  the 
provincial  population  of  Ireland  decreased  in  the  decade  1 871-81  : 

Ulster 5.38  per  cent. 

Munster 5.26       " 

Leinster 4. 68       " 

Connaught 3.59  "    " 

IS   ULSTER    EXCEPTIONALLY    EDUCATED  ? 

We  have  seen  how  unfounded  is  the  boast  of  the  excep- 
tional wealth  of  Ulster.  Let  us  now  see  how  it  stands  as 
regards  the  education  of  its  people,  in  comparison  with  the 
other  three  provinces.  The  percentage  of  persons  able  to 
read  and  write  in  the  four  provinces  is  thus  tabulated  in  the 
census  returns  for  1881 : 

Leinster 58.5 

Ulster 53.4 

Munster 53.2 

Connaught 41.5 


Orange  Belfast  most  Illiterate  291 

"A  further  Parliamentary  return  shows  that  there  are  thousands 
of  '  illiterates  '  in  every  Ulster  county,  including  the  '  Loyalist ' 
stronghold.  The  figures  showing  the  illiterates  for  the  boroughs, 
which  are  as  follows,  are  very  significant: 

Belfast 1.559 

Cork 1,297 

Dublin 867 

Derry 637 

Limerick 425 

Waterford 416 

Galway 381 

"It  would  thus  appear  that  not  only  does  Belfast,  the  head- 
quarters of  Orangeism,  contain  the  largest  number  of  illiterate 
voters,  but  it  has  nearly  twice  as  many  as  Dublin,  which  has 
nearly  52,000  more  population.  Derry,  too,  with  a  population 
of  29,162  has  212  more  '  illiterates  '  than  Limerick,  which  has  a 
population  of  48,670,  and  221  more  'illiterates'  than  Waterford, 
the  population  of  which  is  about  equal  to  that  of  the  home  of  the 
'  Apprentice  Boys.'  " 

IS    ULSTER    PROVIDENTIALLY    HOUSED  ? 

"  And  Mr.  Trevelyan's  return  of  the  24th  May,  1884,  brings 
out,  in  addition,  the  following  results  as  regards  houses  rated  at 
one  pound  and  under — that  is,  houses  of  the  lowest  class: 

Ulster 1 52,499 

Connaught 105,008 

Munster 92,632 

Leinster 85,040 

"  In  other  words,  Ulster  has  more  than  a  third  of  the  whole 
number  of  the  worse  class  of  houses  in  Ireland." 

WHAT    ARE    THE    AGRICULTURAL   CONDITIONS   OF    THE 
PROVINCE  ? 

"There  are  538,000  agricultural  holdings  in  Ireland  whose 
average  rental  does  not  exceed  six  pounds  a  year  each  and  of 
these  the  Times  lately  stated,  following  the  high  authority  of  Sir 
James  Caird,  that  they  belonged  to  a  class  of  holdings  from  which 


292  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

the  rental  was,  if  the  present  agricultural  depression  continued, 
*  practically  irrecoverable  by  anybody. '  The  following  table 
shows  that  Ulster  has  not  only  by  far  the  largest  number  of  these 
miserable  holdings,  but  more  than  Munster  and  Leinster  have  when 
added  together : 

Ulster 207,833 

Connaught 128, 124 

Munster 105,429 

Leinster 97,000 

538,386 

"  Mr.  T.  W.  Russell,'  an  Irish  Tory  M.  P.,  speaking  lately 
(1886)  in  the  House  of  Commons  on  Mr.  Parnell's  Bill,  stated 
that,  according  to  a  recent  Parliamentary  return,  there  were  more 
evictions  in  Ulster  than  in  any  other  province — a  natural  result, 
seeing  the  extraordinary  proportion  of  small  holdings  that  pro- 
vince contained,  and  the  poverty  of  its  agricultural  population  as 
compared  with  that  of  either  Leinster  or  Munster.  The  following 
table  affords  an  additional  instance  of  the  comparative  poverty 
of  the  self-styled  Imperial  Province: 

ARREARS   OF    RENT    (iRELANd)    OCT.,    1882 PROVINCIAL 

SUMMARY    OF    PAYMENT    UNDER    SECTION    I 

NUMBER   OF  TOTAL    ARREARS  PAID   TO 

HOLDINGS  WIPED    OFF  LANDLORDS 

Connaught 52,883 ;^634,33i ;^273,7i6 

Ulster 41,134 561,391 239,125 

Leinster  and  Munster 31,873 565,100 254,744 

"'With  regard  to  taxation,'  said  Mr.  Goschen,  the  present 
Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer,  in  his  speech  on  the  first  reading  of 
the  Home  Rule  Bill,  '  there  is  another  point  on  which  I  wish  to 

'  Mr.  Russell  opposed  the  Home  Rule  movement  but  he  has  proved  a 
strong  advocate  of  the  United  Irish  League,  in  a  movement  for  a  division  of 
the  large  grazing  tract  among  the  people  on  such  terms  as  will  aid  the  tenant 
in  becoming  eventually  the  owner.  The  Protestant  farmers  of  Ulster  have 
been  roused  through  the  efforts  of  Mr.  Russell  to  advocate  this  measure.  This 
is  the  first  movement  made  by  them  during  the  past  one  hundred  years  really 
to  unite  in  their  interests  instead  of  blindly  opposing,  as  they  have  done,  every 
effort  made  by  the  National  party  to  benefit  the  people  of  every  section. 


Illegitimacy  in  Orange  Strongholds     293 

ask  the  views  of  the  Government.  I  want  to  know  whether  the 
financial  situation  won't  be  materially  altered  as  to  whether 
Ulster  is  included  or  not  included  in  the  arrangement?  I  myself 
believe  that  the  whole  financial  equilibrium  will  break  down  if 
Ulster  should  be  excluded.' 

"And  Mr.  David  Plunket,  M.P.,  stated  at  a  public  meeting 
lately  that  '  Ulster  tried  by  every  test  of  wealth,  education,  and 
the  comfortable  dwellings  of  the  people,  was  far  in  advance  of  the 
southern  and  western  provinces  of  Ireland.'  When  public  men 
so  eminent  are  laboring  under  so  extraordinary  a  delusion,  while 
having  access  to  the  Library  of  the  House  of  Commons,  to  Par- 
liamentary and  other  public  documents,  there  is  surely  some 
excuse  for  the  inveterate  superstition  about  Ulster  which  is  em- 
bedded in  the  minds  of  the  'millions.'  The  real  truth  is  that 
Ulster,  like  the  rest  of  Ireland,  despite  the  energy  and  industry 
of  its  inhabitants  of  all  creeds,  is  not  by  any  means  the  home  of 
exceptional  comfort  but  has  on  the  contrary,  like  the  rest  of  Ire- 
land, suffered  much  from  misgovernment  and,  like  the  rest  of 
Ireland,  can  never  really  be  happy  or  contented  till  it  comes  under 
the  fostering  sway  of  a  native  Parliament,  such  as  that  which  has 
been  proposed  by  Mr.  Gladstone." 

WHAT    ARE    ITS   MORAL   CONDITIONS  ? 

"  It  were  scarcely  worth  while  pursuing  the  Ulster  craze  further 
but  for  another  statistical  point,  and  that  a  delicate  one,  which 
it  is  necessary,  in  the  interest  of  truth,  to  have  clearly  estab- 
lished. Of  the  children  born  in  Ireland  in  1885,  112,733,  or  97.2 
percent.,  were  legitimate,  and  3,218,  or  2.8  percent,  illegitimate, 
according  to  the  Twenty-second  Annual  Report  of  the  Irish 
Registrar-General,  himself  a  Protestant.  Taking  the  illegitimate 
births  in  their  order  of  magnitude,  they  are:  Ulster,  4.3  per  cent. ; 
Leinster,  2.3  per  cent.;  Munster,  2.2  percent.;  Connaught,  0.9 
per  cent.  As  these  are  in  provinces,  we  will  take  the  highest  and 
the  lowest  of  the  counties  in  order  to  show  the  shame  and  the 
glory  of  Irish  womanhood.  The  highest  in  their  order  of  un- 
chastity  are:  Antrim,  5.8;  Armagh,  5.0;  Londonderry,  4.8; 
Down,  4.5;  Tyrone,  4.0;  Fermanagh,  3.5;  Monaghan,  2.8;  Done- 
gal, 2.0;   Cavan,   1.6.     These  nine  counties  are  in  Ulster.     In 


294  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

Connaught,  where  the  average  of  illegitimate  births  is  0.9,  there 
are  five  counties:  Galway,  1.5  per  cent.;  Sligo,  i.o  per  cent.; 
Mayo,  0.7  per  cent. ;  Roscommon,  0.7  ;  Leitrim,  0.6.  In  chastity 
these  five  counties  represent  the  flower  of  womankind.  Let  us 
consider  the  meaning  of  the  figures.  In  one  thousand  persons  in 
Antrim  there  are  fifty-eight  illegitimate  children,  in  Leitrim  only 
six.  If  female  chastity  be  a  virtue,  then  the  above  figures  show 
the  relative  proportion,  as  regards  the  virtue  of  their  women,  be- 
tween the  two  counties  named,  /.  e.,  Orange  Antrim  and  Romanist 
Leitrim. 

' '  The  Fall  Mall  Gazette^  London,  is  responsible  for  what  fol- 
lows: 

"  '  What  can  give  rise  to  the  great  difference  between  the  greater 
portion  of  the  women  of  Ulster  and  those  of  the  other  parts  of 
Ireland  ?  Dividing  Ulster  into  two  portions,  Protestants  and 
Catholics,  and  judging  these  by  the  number  of  Protestant  and 
Catholic  marriages  celebrated  last  year  we  find  the  proportion  to 
be,  per  cent. : 

ILLEGITIMATE 
PROTESTANTS  CATHOLICS  BIRTHS 

Antrim 80 20 5.8* 

Down 73 27 4.8* 

Londonderry 60 40 4.8* 

Armagh .60 40 5.  * 

Fermanagh 54 46 3.5 

Tyrone 53 47 4.  * 

Monaghan 34 66 2.8 

Cavan 27 73 1.6 

Donegal 22 78 2. 

"  '  The  counties  marked  *  returned  Orange  members  to  the 
present  Parliament.  It  seems  that  Orangeism  and  illegitimacy 
go  together,  and  that  illegitimate  children  in  Ireland  are  in  pro- 
portion to  Orange  Lodges.  No  other  county  in  Ireland  returns 
an  Orangeman.' 

"So  far  for  the  Fall  Mall  Gazette.  But,  unfortunately,  the 
painful  past  revealed  by  these  figures  has  been  attested  in  another 
way.  Sir  John  Forbes,  D.C.L.,  of  Oxford,  and  Queen's  physi- 
cian besides,  travelling  through  Ireland  in  1852,  reported  on  the 
subject  in  this  startling  fashion: 


Pharisaism  of  "  Protestant  Ascendancy  "  295 

"  '  That  the  proportion  of  illegitimate  children  coincides  almost 
exactly  with  the  relative  proportions  of  the  two  religions  in  each 
province  of  Ireland,  being  large  where  the  Protestant  element  is 
large,  and  small  where  it  is  small.  Thus,  in  Connaught,  where 
the  proportion  of  Protestants  to  Catholics  is  only  i  to  6.45,  the 
proportion  of  illegitimate  children  to  legitimate  is  only  i  to  23.53; 
while  in  Ulster,  where  the  proportion  of  Protestants  to  Catholics 
is  as  1.42  to  I,  the  proportion  of  illegitimate  to  legitimate  children 
is  as  7.26  to  I.' — Memorandums  Made  in  Ireland  m  18^2,  vol.  ii., 

P-  245- 

"  As  there  appears  to  be  no  longer  reason  to  doubt  the  justice 
of  the  reflections  uttered  by  the  Pall  Mall  Gazette,  it  must  be 
charitably  concluded  that  Ulster  Orangemen  devote  so  much 
time  to  piously  cursing  the  Pope  and  the  Papists,  there  is  little 
left  for  their  meditating  on  the  sacred  injunctions  contained  in 
the  seventh  commandment." 

Mr.  Fox  has  evidently  written  in  the  interest  of  the 
Catholics  but  there  is  no  evidence  to  show  that  he  has  not 
truthfully  stated  the  case.  The  Pall  Mall  Gazette,  of  Lon- 
don, certainly  had  no  special  interest  in  the  subject  beyond 
establishing  the  truth.  Therefore,  since  the  Orangemen 
claim  for  "Protestant  Ascendancy,"  wherever  they  as  Pro- 
testants are  in  the  majority,  the  existence  of  a  higher  grade 
of  morals  and  general  superiority,  it  is  evident,  from  the 
testimony  produced,  that  religion  is  used  by  them  merely  as  a 
cloak,  as  I  have  already  stated,  while  the  claim  of  excellency 
is  simply  made  in  the  spirit  of  the  Pharisee.  The  treatment 
of  this  subject  is  only  admissible  from  a  religious  standpoint. 
It  is  easy  to  show  that  the  influence  of  religion  has  been 
wanting  where  the  greatest  claims  have  been  made  for  its 
presence ;  otherwise  the  absurd  supposition  must  be  main- 
tained, namely,  that  Orangemen  are  less  moral  and  have 
a  larger  proportion  of  illegitimate  children  owing  to  the  in- 
fluence of  a  purer  Christian  belief. 


CHAPTER   XIX 

FAMINES  OF  IRELAND — CONSEQUENT  SUFFERING — RESULTS 
DUE  TO  MISGOVERNMENT  AND  INDIFFERENCE  ON  THE 
PART  OF  THE  ENGLISH  AUTHORITIES — UNNECESSARY 
LOSS  OF  LIFE  AND  EMIGRATION 

We  have  considered  the  famines  in  Ireland  which  occurred 
when  the  land  could  not  be  cultivated  after  the  efforts  of 
England  to  exterminate  the  Irish  people  by  means  of  the 
sword.  We  now  wish  to  study  the  unnecessary  famines 
from  which  Ireland  has  suffered,  all  of  which  it  is  claimed 
could  have  been  mitigated  by  a  Government  whose  ofificials 
possessed  the  slightest  interest  in  the  welfare  of  the  people. 

In  1725,  1726,  1727  and  1728  Ireland  suffered  from  a  fail- 
ure, to  a  great  extent,  of  the  crops  and  in  1739  from  heavy 
frosts,  which  could  not  have  been  guarded  against,  and  in 
1822  there  was  much  suffering;  but  we  will  not  enter  into 
details  of  these  or  other  years  of  want  but  pass  to  what  is 
generally  known  as  the  "'Great  Famine  "  which  forced  the 
people  to  emigrate. 

During  the  past  century  not  five  years  have  passed  at  any 
time  without  the  announcement  of  a  threatened  famine  in 
Ireland.  Scarcely  a  year  has  gone  by  within  this  period 
that  the  people  of  Ireland  have  not  been  in  want,  in  some 
portion  of  the  country,  from  an  inadequate  supply  of  food. 
But  strictly  at  no  time,  so  far  as  the  writer  is  informed,  has 
a  famine  existed  from  a  total  failure  of  the  Irish  crops  and 
each  year  there  has  been  raised  in  some  section  of  the  country 
more  than  would  have  been  adequate  for  the  needs  of  the 

296 


Irish  Famines  Profitable  to  England     297 

people  elsewhere.  The  local  scarcity  is  due  to  the  fact  that 
everything  save  a  portion  of  the  potato  crop,  on  which  the 
greater  part  of  the  people  are  forced  to  subsist,  is  taken  out  of 
the  country  to  England  to  pay  the  rent  to  the  absentee  land- 
lord, to  obtain  supplies  for  England's  profit  and  to  meet  the 
excessive  rate  of  taxes  levied  by  the  Government.  As  the 
produce  of  the  country  must  always  be  promptly  used  to  meet 
the  forced  obligations  due  for  rent,  etc.,  the  producer  can 
never  receive  full  market  value  and  England  consequently 
gains  a  double  profit.  Russia  promptly  stopped  the  export 
of  wheat,  so  soon  as  it  was  ascertained  that  the  crop  was 
not  sufficient  for  the  want  of  all  her  people ;  this  was  done 
notwithstanding  a  great  profit  could  have  been  gained. 
But  for  her  determined  and  selfish  course  towards  Ire- 
land, England  would  find  some  means  promptly  to  check 
this  death-producing  depletion,  as  she  has  on  other  occasions 
when  it  was  necessary  to  protect  her  own  people. 

But,  since  England  receives  all  the  profits  and  is  a  gainer 
to  the  full  of  Ireland's  loss,  the  matter  will  continue  to  re- 
main one  of  indifference  to  the  British  Government  unless 
the  contempt  and  public  opinion  of  the  world  at  large  may 
ultimately  force  her  to  take  just  action. 

The  population  of  Ireland  in  1841  was  about  8,796,545 
persons  but  after  several  years  of  famine  in  185 1  it  had  de- 
creased to  6, 5  5 1 ,970,  leaving  2, 2^^,^^^ persons  to  be  accounted 
for  zvithout,  in  addition,  taking  into  consideration  the  natural 
increase  of  the  population  during  these  ten  years. 

John  Mitchell  states': 

"  Now  that  a  million  and  a  half  of  men,  women  and  children 
were  carefully,  prudently  and  peacefully  slain  by  the  English 
Government.  They  died  of  hunger  in  the  midst  of  abundance, 
which  their  own  hands  created ;  and  it  is  quite  immaterial  to  dis- 
tinguish those  who  perished  in  the  agonies  of  famine  itself  from 
those  who  died  of  typhus  fever,  which  in  Ireland  is  always  caused 
by  famine. 

'  The  History  of  Ireland,  etc.,  a  Contijiziation  of  the  History  of  the  Abbe 
MacGeoghegan,  by  John  Mitchell,  New  York,  1S92,  p.  596. 


298  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

"  Further,  this  was  strictly  an  artificial  famine — that  is  to  say, 
it  was  a  famine  which  desolated  a  rich  and  fertile  island,  that 
produced  every  year  abundance  and  superabundance  to  sustain 
all  her  people  and  many  more.  The  English,  indeed,  call  that 
famine  a  dispensation  of  Providence  and  ascribe  it  entirely  to 
the  blight  of  the  potatoes.  But  potatoes  failed  in  like  manner 
all  over  Europe,  yet  there  was  no  famine  save  in  Ireland.  The 
British  account  of  the  matter,  then,  is,  first  a  fraud;  second,  a 
blasphemy.  The  Almighty  indeed,  sent  the  potato  blight,  but 
the  English  created  the  famine. 

"  And  lastly,  it  has  been  shown,  in  the  course  of  this  narrative, 
that  the  depopulation  of  the  country  was  not  only  encouraged 
by  artificial  means,  namely,  the  Outdoor  Relief  Act,  the  Labor- 
rate  Act,  and  the  emigration  schemes,  but  that  extreme  care  and 
diligence  were  used  to  prevent  relief  coming  to  the  doomed  island 
from  abroad ;  and  that  the  benevolent  contributions  of  Americans 
and  other  foreigners  were  turned  aside  from  their  desired  objects 
— not,  let  us  say,  in  order  that  none  should  be  saved  alive,  but 
that  no  interference  should  be  made  with  the  principles  of  po- 
litical economy! 

"  In  the  first  year  of  the  famine,  then  we  find  that  the  measures 
proposed  by  the  English  Government  were,  first,  repeal  of  the 
Corn  Laws,  which  depreciated  Ireland's  only  article  of  export; 
second,  a  new  Coercion  Law,  to  torment  and  transport  the  peo- 
ple; and  third,  a  grant  of  one  hundred  thousand  pounds  to  cer- 
tain clerks  or  commissioners,  chiefly  for  their  own  profit,  and 
from  which  the  starving  people  derived  no  benefit  whatever." 

According  to  the  printed  official  records,  during  the  first 
year  of  the  famine  food  to  the  value  of  over  seventy  millions 
of  dollars  was  exported  from  Ireland  and  chiefly  to  Eng- 
land ;  yet  the  Government  made  no  effort  to  retain  in  the 
country  this  food  supply  while  the  people  in  the  immediate 
neighborhood  were  dying  from  starvation  !  This  food  could 
not  be  purchased  or  legally  stopped  /;/  transit  by  any  indi- 
vidual action,  as  it  was  the  property  of  the  landlord  or  was 
being  sent  abroad  to  meet  some  indebtedness  of  the  people 
and  only  the  power  of  the  Government  could  have  arrested 
the  exportation. 


England  Trades  on  Irish  Famines      299 

But  there  was  a  profit  for  the  English  trader,  in  bringing 
back  the  same  food,  from  the  increased  price  due  to  the  arti- 
ficial scarcity  thus  caused ;  so  the  Government  showed  itself 
utterly  indifferent  as  to  how  many  died  from  want  among 
those  who  were  without  the  means  to  pay  the  famine  prices. 

Mr.  Mitchell  states  ' : 

"  And  still  fleets  of  ships  were  sailing  every  tide,  carrying  Irish 
cattle  and  corn  to  England.  There  was  also  a  large  importation 
of  grain  from  England  into  Ireland,  especially  of  Indian  corn; 
and  the  speculators  and  ship-owners  had  a  good  time. 
Two  facts,  however,  are  essential  to  be  borne  in  mind — -firsty  that 
the  net  result  of  this  importation,  exportation  and  re-importation 
— (though  many  a  ship-load  was  carried  four  times  across  the 
Irish  Sea,  as  prices  *  invited  '  it) — was,  that  England  finally  re- 
ceived the  harvests  to  the  same  amount  as  before;  zxi^  second, 
that  she  gave  Ireland — under  free  trade  in  corn — less  for  it  than 
ever.  In  other  words,  it  took  more  of  the  Irish  produce  to  buy 
a  piece  of  cloth  from  a  Leeds  manufacturer,  or  to  buy  a  rent  re- 
ceipt from  an  absentee  proprietor." 

"  In  the  same  number  the  Nation  took  the  pains  to  collect  and 
present  statistics  by  which  it  appeared  that  every  day,  one  day 
with  another,  twenty  large  steamships,  not  counting  sailing  ves- 
sels, left  Ireland  for  England,  all  laden  with  that  abundant  har- 
vest— for  which  the  English,  indeed,  might  well  give  thanks."  * 

"  The  American  corn  was  only  so  much  given  as  a  handsome 
present  to  the  merchants  and  speculators.  That  is,  the  English 
got  it."' 

"  For  example,  the  vast  supplies  of  food  purchased  by  the  '  Brit- 
ish Relief  Association, '  with  the  money  of  charitable  Christians 
in  England,  were  everywhere  locked  up  in  Government  stores. 
Government,  it  seems,  contrived  to  influence  or  control  the  man- 
agers of  that  fund;  and  thus,  there  were  thousands  of  tons  of 
food  rotting  within  the  stores  of  Haulbowline,  at  Cork  Harbor; 
and  tens  of  thousands  rotting  without.  For  the  market  must  be 
followed,  not  led — (to  the  prejudice  of  Liverpool  merchants!) — 
private  speculation  must  not  be  disappointed  nor  the  calculations 
of  political  circles  falsified ! 

'  The  History  of  Ireland,  etc.,  p.  260.         ^  Ibid.,  p.  570.        ^  Ibid,,  p.  567. 


300  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

"  All  the  nations  of  the  earth  might  be  defied  to  feed  or  relieve 
Ireland  beset  by  such  a  Government  as  this.  America  tried  an- 
other plan.  The  ship  Jamestown  sailed  into  Cork  Harbor,  and 
discharged  a  large  cargo,  which  actually  began  to  come  into  con- 
sumption; when  lo!  Free  Trade  —  another  familiar  demon  of 
Government — Free  Trade,  that  carries  off  our  harvests  of  the 
year  before — comes  in,  freights  another  ship,  and  carries  off  from 
Cork  to  Liverpool,  a  cargo  against  the  American  cargo!  " 

The  great  famine  began  in  1846.  The  following  is  from 
a  reliable  authority  * : 

"It  is  now  upon  record,  that  the  people  perished  in  great  num- 
bers before  public  relief,  or  indeed  sympathy,  came  to  their  aid. 
The  English  people  were  rich,  and  the  coffers  of  the 
Treasury  were  full,  and  yet  a  niillion  of  the  Irish  people  died  of 
want,  and  another  million  were  driven  by  the  iron  hand  of  op- 
pression to  seek  refuge  in  foreign  lands.  What  were  the  means 
taken  by  the  British  Government  to  meet  or  palliate  this  dread 
calamity,  caused  as  much  by  that  vicious  system  that  regulated 
the  connection  between  the  countries,  as  the  failure  of  the  potato 
crop,  which  was  only  one  of  the  effects  produced  by  it.  After 
delays  innumerable,  and  that  the  finger  of  shame  had  been  pointed 
at  the  English  Minister,  Lord  John  Russell  came  forward  and 
contracted  a  loan  of  eight  millions^  which  was  to  have  been  ex- 
pended in  relieving  the  Irish  people.  The  great  majority  of  the 
English  Metropolitan  Press  unfeelingly  and  inconsiderately  in- 
veighed against  the  raising  of  money  for  such  purpose,  and  of 
thus  taxing  '  the  industrious  hard-working  English  tradesmen  to 
support  in  idleness  a  lazy  people! 

"  Every  one  who  read  these  articles  would  have  supposed  that 
this  was  to  have  been  a  free  gift  to  Ireland  in  the  hour  of  her 
calamity;  but  what  was  the  fact?  Although  that  country  con- 
tributed to  the  expense  of  raising  it  as  well  as  England,  it  was 
expended  principally  on  the  retainers  of  the  Government,  and  the 
starving  people  got  but  a  small  proportion  of  it ; — that  it  was  not 
granted  as  a  gift  but  as  a  loan,  and  that  Ireland  was  made  solely 
liable  for  its  liquidation !  ' ' 

'  The  Ancient  and  Modern  History  of  the  Maritime  Ports  of  Ireland,  by 
Anthony  Marmion,  London,  1S55,  pp.  55,  56. 


Governmental  Relief  in  Famine        301 

This  statement  is  verified  by  Mr.  O'Connor*: 

"  But  this  was  not  from  the  want  of  a  sufficiently  large  staff. 
There  were  no  less  than  10,000  officials;  and  these  appointments 
were  given  from  the  most  corrupt  motives.  This  example  of  cor- 
ruption at  the  top  had  a  good  deal  to  do  with  the  disastrous  and 
universal  spirit  of  corruption  below.  And  the  most  heart-rend- 
ing feature  of  it  all  was  that  all  this  machinery,  all  this  vast  army 
of  officials,  all  these  vast  sums  of  money,  not  only  did  no  good, 
but  were  productive  of  an  increase,  instead  of  a  diminution,  of 
the  miseries  of  the  country.  As  to  a  large  portion  of  the  people, 
the  relief — such  as  it  was — came  too  late.^  .  .  .  The  wretched 
people  were  by  this  time  too  wasted  and  emaciated  to  work. 
The  endeavor  to  do  so  under  an  inclement  winter  sky  only  has- 
tened death.  They  tottered  at  daybreak  to  the  roll-call,  vainly 
tried  to  wheel  the  barrow,  or  ply  the  pick,  but  fainted  away  on 
the  cutting  or  lay  down  by  the  wayside  to  rise  no  more." 

Mr.  O'Connorquotesfrom  theworkof  Rev.  J.  O'Rourke^: 

"  Hapless  wretches,  often  with  wives  and  several  children 
dying  of  hunger  at  home — sometimes  with  the  wife  or  one  of 
the  children  already  a  putrid  corpse,  crawled  to  their  work  in  the 
morning,  there  drudged  as  best  they  could,  and  at  the  end  of  the 
day  often  had  as  their  wages  the  sum  of  five  pence — sometimes 
it  went  as  low  as  three  pence.  To  earn  this  sum,  too,  it  often 
happened  that  the  starving  man  had  to  walk  three,  four,  five, 
eight  Irish  miles  to,  and  the  same  distance  from,  his  work. 
Finally,  owing  to  blunders,  he  was  frequently  unable  even  to  get 
his  pittance  at  the  end  of  the  week  or  fortnight;  and  then  he  re- 
turned to  his  cabin  to  die — unless,  as  often  happened,  he  died 
on  the  wayside. 

"  Even  when  he  was  paid,  the  meal-shop  was  miles  away — for 
the  retail  trade,  with  which  the  Government  would  not  interfere, 
existed  only  in  Government  imagination;  and  meal-shops  were 
only  to  be  found  at  long  intervals.    Or,  if  he  reached  the  meal-shop, 

'  P.  36. 

'  JVew  Ireland :   Political  Sketches  and  Personal  Reminiscences   of   Thirty 
Years  of  Irish  Public  Life,  by  A.  M.  Sullivan,  Glasgow,  1877,  p.  64. 
^History  of  the  Great  Irish  Famine  of  1847 ,  P-  258. 


302  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

Government  measures  again  had  raised  the  price  of  meal  be- 
yond the  reach  of  relief  work  wages;  and  if  he  knocked  at  the 
doors  of  Government  depots,  a  harsh  and  alien  voice  replied  that 
in  the  name  of  political  economy  he  should  die." 

It  is  held  by  diflferent  authorities  that  the  aid  the  English 
Government  undertook  to  dole  out  at  this  period  through 
agents  in  Ireland  went  very  much  by  favor.  The  writer  be- 
lieves the  charge  to  be  true  on  the  information  he  obtained 
in  this  country  shortly  thereafter  from  different  emigrants 
who  were  strangers  to  each  other  though  all  had  gone 
through  the  same  horrors  of  the  famine.  Moreover  there 
can  be  but  little  doubt  that  the  Catholic  portion  of  the  popu- 
lation never  received  the  benefit  from  the  food  that  even 
the  British  Government,  after  being  forced  by  public  opinion 
to  act,  intended  should  be  fairly  distributed.  The  varied 
information  received  by  the  writer  agreed  in  one  respect, 
that  when  a  Protestant  family  was  found  in  want,  or  its 
members  were  stricken  with  fever,  all  would,  as  a  rule,  be 
carefully  cared  for  and  the  sick  generally  allowed  to  remain 
in  their  homes  where  they  were  properly  nursed.  But 
Catholics,  especially  in  the  out-of-the-way  districts,  were 
either  entirely  neglected,  left  to  starve  and  even  lie  un- 
buried  or  they  were  crowded  into  the  almshouses  and  so- 
called  hospitals  and  their  shanties  always  burned  or  pulled 
down  as  soon  as  they  were  emptied.  Those  sent  to  the 
over-crowded  temporary  hospitals  were  certain  to  die  from 
want  of  proper  food  and  proper  care.  The  sick  seldom  re- 
ceived any  systematic  attention  except  from  the  over- 
worked district  physician,  who  was  generally  a  Protestant, 
or  from  the  Catholic  clergyman;  both  of  these  often  fell 
victims  to  the  same  disease  and  died  in  turn  with  as  little 
attention  from  the  other  officials  whose  chief  care  was  to 
keep  out  of  danger  and  to  profit  as  a  "friend  of  the  Govern- 
ment." 

Those  who  were  sent  to  the  almshouses  and  were  retained 
there  until  they  were  free  from  fever  were,  as  we  have  stated, 


Eviction,  a  Sentence  of  Death  3^3 

seldom  properly  fed  and  were  often  starved.  The  men  and 
children  received  no  favor  and  the  females  often  had  no 
means  of  escaping  starvation  but  by  yielding  to  the  lust  of 
the  brutes  in  charge;  these  unfortunate  women  were  not 
always  given  even  this  choice. 

The  Irish  Registrar-General  Reports  frequently  show  that 
in  some  of  the  poor-law  Unions  every  illegitimate  child  was 
from  the  workhouses. 

We  have  already  given  quotations  from  the  Pa/l  Mall 
Gazette  bearing  indirectly  on  this  subject,  which  were  cited 
by  Mr.  Fox  in  his  work.     In  addition  he  states ' : 

"  Except  in  parts  of  Antrim,  where  on  the  showing  of  the 
Irish  Registrar-General  and  collated  by  the  Pall  Mall  Gazette, 
Orangeism  and  bastardy  go  together,  you  can  pick  out  the  work- 
houses by  glancing  down  the  columns  and  taking  the  largest 
figures.  As  teachers  of  immorality,  workhouses  are  a  curse  to 
Ireland.  Poor  women  and  girls,  when  forced  by  direct  poverty 
to  enter  within  their  walls,  are  obliged  by  law  to  associate  with 
the  lowest  of  their  sex  who  are  to  be  found  there. 

"  Hence,  when  the  Irish  peasant  is  evicted,  and  has  no  alter- 
native but  the  workhouse,  apprehensions  of  moral  ruin  often  goad 
him  to  fury,  when  he  looks  into  the  innocent  faces  of  his  little 
ones.  The  tempter  appears  to  him  in  the  eyes  of  an  avenger, 
and  he,  weakly  yielding,  forthwith  agrees  to  slay  his  oppressor. 
The  Times  (London)  recognized  this  fact  long  ago,  since,  in 
1850,  it  declared  a  'judgment  of  eviction  '  to  be  a  'judgment  of 
death,'  the  tenant's  only  alternative  being  the  workhouse  or  the 
grave." 

Mr.  A.  M.  Sullivan,  who  was  a  resident  of  the  famine 
district  throughout  the  prevalence  of  the  scourge  and  took 
an  active  part  in  caring  for  the  afflicted,  gives  testimony 
which  must  be  accepted  as  reliable.  In  reference  to  the 
landlords  he  writes  " : 

"The  conduct  of  the  Irish  landlords  throughout  the  famine 
period  has  been  variously  described,  and  has  been,  I  believe, 
'  P,  76.  °  New  Ireland,  etc. ,  p.  63. 


304  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

generally  condemned.  I  consider  the  censure  visited  on  them 
too  sweeping.  I  hold  it  to  be  in  some  respects  cruelly  unjust. 
On  many  of  them  no  blame  too  heavy  could  possibly  fall.  A 
large  number  were  permanent  absentees ;  their  ranks  were  swelled 
by  several  who  early  fled  the  post  of  duty  at  home — cowardly 
and  selfish  deserters  of  a  brave  and  faithful  people.  Of  those 
who  remained  some  may  have  grown  callous;  it  is  impossible  to 
contest  authentic  instances  of  brutal  heartlessness  here  and  there. 
But  granting  all  that  has  to  be  entered  on  the  dark  debtor  side, 
the  overwhelming  balance  is  the  other  way.  The  bulk  of  the 
resident  Irish  landlords  manfully  did  their  best  in  that  dread 
hour.  If  they  did  too  little  compared  with  what  the  landlord 
class  in  England  would  have  done  in  a  similar  case,  it  was  because 
little  was  in  their  power.  The  famine  found  most  of  the  resident 
landed  gentry  of  Ireland  on  the  brink  of  ruin.  They  were  in- 
heritors of  estates  heavily  overweighed  with  the  debts  of  bygone 
generations.  Broad  lands  and  lordly  mansions  were  held  by 
them  on  settlements  and  conditions  that  allowed  small  scope  for 
the  exercise  of  individual  liberality.  To  these  land  owners  the 
failure  of  one  year's  rental  receipt  meant  mortgage,  foreclosure 
and  hopeless  ruin.  Yet  cases  might  be  named  by  the  score  in 
which  such  men  scorned  to  avert  by  pressure  on  their  suffering 
tenantry  the  fate  they  saw  impending  over  them.  They  '  went 
down  with  the  ship.'  " 

Mr.  O'Connor  writes*: 

"  I  have  sufficiently  debated  already  the  measures  which  were 
taken  by  the  English  Ministers  to  meet  the  calamity.  .  .  . 
Most  persons  will  hold  that  a  civilized,  highly  organized  and  ex- 
tremely wealthy  government  ought  to  be  able  to  meet  such  a  crisis 
as  the  Irish  Famine  so  effectually  as  to  prevent  the  loss  of  one 
single  life  by  hunger.  I  have  already  alluded  to  the  language  in 
which  some  Irish  writers  are  accustomed  to  speak  of  the  actions 
and  intentions  of  the  government.  Their  theory  is  that  the 
terrors  and  horrors  of  the  Famine  were  the  result  of  a  deliberate 
conspiracy  to  murder  wholesale  an  inconvenient,  troublesome, 
and  hostile  nation.     Such  a  theory  may  be  promptly  rejected, 

'  Pp.  77.  78. 


English  Legislation  Caused  Famine     305 

and  yet  leave  a  heavy  load  of  guilt  on  the  Ministers.  In  political 
affairs  we  have  to  look  not  so  much  to  the  intention  as  to  the  re- 
sults of  policies;  and  it  is  undeniable  that  in  1846  and  1847  there 
were  as  many  deaths  as  if  the  deliberate  and  wholesale  murder  of 
the  Irish  people  had  been  the  motive  of  English  statesmanship. 
Statesmen,  I  say,  must  be  judged  by  the  result  of  their  policy. 
The  policy  which  created  the  Famine  was  the  land  legislation  of 
the  British  Parliament.  The  refusal  of  the  British  Legislature 
to  interfere  with  rack-rents;  the  refusal  to  protect  the  improve- 
ments of  the  tenants;  the  facilities  and  inducements  to  wholesale 
eviction — these  were  the  things  that  produced  the  Famine  of  1846 ; 
and  such  legislation,  again,  was  the  result  of  the  Government  of 
Ireland  by  a  Legislature  independent  of  Irish  votes,  Irish  con- 
stituencies, Irish  opinion. 

"But  what  testimony  could  be  so  overwhelming,  so  tragic,  in 
favor  of  Repeal  of  the  Union  as  the  Irish  Famine,  with  all  its 
attendant  horrors  of  plague,  emigration,  eviction  ?  And  so  the 
hatred  of  England  for  Ireland  was  hideously  unjust.  On  the 
other  hand,  it  is  easy  to  understand  how  the  Irish  should  have 
been  embittered  to  frenzy  when  they  saw  the  dominant  nation, 
that  claimed  and  had  carried  its  superior  right  to  govern,  so  per- 
forming its  functions  of  Government  that  roads  throughout  Ire- 
land were  impassable  with  the  gaunt  forms  of  the  starving,  or  the 
corpses  of  the  starved,  and  that  every  ship  was  freighted  with 
thousands  fleeing  from  their  homes.  To  this  day  the  traveller  in 
America  will  meet  Irishmen  who  were  evicted  from  Ireland  in  the 
great  clearances  of  the  Famine  time ;  there  is  a  strange  glitter  in 
their  eyes,  and  a  savage  coldness  in  their  voice  as  they  speak  of 
these  things,  and  their  bitterness  is  as  fresh  as  if  the  wrong  were 
but  of  yesterday.  It  was  these  clearances,  and  the  sight  of  whole- 
sale starvation  and  plague,  far  more  than  racial  feelings,  that  pro- 
duced the  hatred  of  English  government  which  strike  the  impartial 
Americans  as  something  like  frenzy.  It  was  the  events  of  '46  and 
'47,  of  '48  and  '49,  that  sowed  in  Irish  breasts  the  feelings  that 
in  due  time  produced  eager  subscribers  to  the  dynamite  funds. 

"And  yet,  I  say  again,  while  the  hatred  of  the  English  institu- 
tions which  produced  these  horrors  was  just,  the  hatred  of  the 
English  people  themselves  was  not  deserved.  The  English  peo- 
ple, indeed,  did  much  to  earn  very  different  sentiments." 


VOL.  I.— 20. 


3o6  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

Justin  McCarthy  wrote  ' : 

"Whatever  might  be  said  of  the  Government,  no  one  could 
doubt  the  good  will  of  the  English  people.  National  Relief  So- 
cieties were  especially  formed  in  England.  ...  It  (the  Famine) 
was  far  too  great  to  be  effectually  encountered  by  subscriptions 
however  generous." 

Mr.  O'Connor  continues: 

"  It  was,  then,  not  the  English  that  were  to  blame  for  the  hor- 
rors of  the  Irish  Famine,  excepting  so  far  as  they  were  responsible 
for  their  choice  of  representatives,  and  for  the  maintenance  of 
English  institutions  in  Ireland.  It  was  the  British  Parliament  and 
the  British  Ministers  that  worked  the  wholesale  slaughter  of  Irish- 
men, and  that  produced  the  murderous  hatred  of  so  many  of  the 
Irish  race  for  England.  In  other  words,  the  Act  of  Union  is  the 
great  criminal.  It  is  the  government  of  Ireland  by  Englishmen 
and  by  English  opinion  that  has  the  double  result  of  ruining  Ire- 
land and  endangering  England — of  producing  much  undeserved 
and  preventable  suffering  to  Irishmen,  and  much  undeserved  and 
preventable  trouble  and  hatred  of  England.* 

"It  is  certain  that  to-day  Ireland  is  the  saddest  country  in  this 
world  of  many  countries  and  tears.  With  the  Famine  joy  died  in 
Ireland;  the  day  of  its  resurrection  has  not  yet  come. 

"  One  word  finally.  The  population  of  Ireland  by  March  30, 
1 85 1,  at  the  same  ratio  of  increase  as  held  in  England  and  Wales, 
should  have  been  9,018,799 — it  was  6,552,285.  It  was  the  calcu- 
lation of  the  Census  Commissioners  '  that  the  deficit,  indepen- 
dently of  the  emigration,  represented  by  the  mortality  in  the  five 
Famine  years,  was  985,366,  nearly  a  million  of  people.*  The 
greater  proportion  of  this  million  of  deaths  must  be  set  down  to 
hunger  and  the  epidemic  which  hunger  generated.  To  those 
who  died  at  home  must  be  added  the  large  number  of  people  who 
embarked  on  vessels  or  landed  in  America  or  elsewhere  with 
frames  weakened  by  the  Famine  or  diseases  resulting  from  the 
Famine,  and  perished  in  the  manner  already  described.     Father 

'  History  of  Our  Own  Times,  etc.,  by  Justin  McCarthy,  M.P.,  vol.  ii.,  p.  125. 

*  P.  84. 

^  Census  Commissioners^  Report,  1851,  p.  245.  *  Ibid.,  p.  246. 


Frightful  Death-Rate  from  Famine      307 

O'Rourke,'  calculating  these  at  seventeen  per  cent,  of  the  emi- 
gration of  1,180,409  arrives  at  the  total  of  200,668  persons  who 
died  either  on  the  voyage  from  their  country  or  on  their  arrival 
at  their  destination.  This  would  raise  the  total  of  deaths  caused 
through  the  Irish  Famine  to  upwards  of  a  million  people," 

The  exact  number  of  deaths  which  occurred  in  Ireland 
from  fever,  cholera,  smallpox,  dysentery,  scurvy,  and  other 
causes  due  directly  or  indirectly  to  the  Famine  can  never  be 
known,  as  in  the  bogs  and  out-of-the-way  places  were  found, 
years  after,  the  remains  of  many  of  those  who  had  died 
alone  or  hidden  away  and  of  whose  deaths  the  authorities 
had  no  record.  In  the  total  of  horrors  visited  upon  the 
Irish  people  but  little  reference  was  made  to  the  great  num- 
ber of  persons  who  were  left  completely  blind  so  that  no 
country  in  the  world  probably  had  so  great  a  number  as  was 
in  Ireland  after  this  period.  Many  cases  of  blindness  were 
attributed  to  ophthalmia  and  doubtless  many  of  these  were 
due  to  want  of  cleanliness  and  care ;  but  by  far  the  greater 
number  resulted  from  another  cause  which  was  not  recog- 
nized in  the  confusion  of  cause  and  effect.  The  human 
system  becomes  so  reduced  during  the  progress  of  typhus 
fever  that  in  consequence  of  a  want  of  vitality  ulceration 
of  the  cornea,  or  the  clear  portion  of  the  eye  over  the 
pupil,  was  a  very  frequent  occurrence  in  the  experience  of 
the  writer  at  that  time  among  those  who  were  treated  by 
him  for  typhus  or  ship-fever  and,  when  prompt  means  were 
not  taken  to  arrest  its  progress,  total  blindness  was  inevitable 
from  the  opacity  or  scar  formed  in  case  of  recovery.  This 
condition  of  the  eyes,  probably,  was  often  mistaken  for  oph- 
thalmia. The  writer  has  been  unable  to  obtain  any  state- 
ment as  to  the  total  number  of  persons  who  were  rendered 
blind  from  disease  thus  contracted  during  the  Famine.  The 
Census  Commissioners'  Report  states  that  from  13,812  cases, 
in  1849,  the  number  increased  to  45,947  cases  of  blindness 
in  1 85 1  but  no  information  is  given  as  to  the  number  pre- 
vious to  or  during  the  intervening  years.  However,  the 
^History  of  the  Great  Irish  Famine  0/1847,  by  Rev.  J.  O'Rourke. 


3o8  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

actual  number  if  known  would  be  appalling,  in  view  of  the 
extensive  and  hopeless  misery  and  actual  want  which  must 
have  afiflicted  each  individual. 

The  writer  was  in  the  employ  of  the  Commissioners  of 
Immigration  from  the  early  portion  of  1850  to  the  autumn  of 
1854,  as  Resident  and  afterwards  Visiting  Physician  to  the 
Emigrant  Refuge  Hospital,  Ward's  Island,  New  York 
Harbor.  At  the  same  time  he  was  in  close  relation  with 
the  physicians  connected  with  the  Quarantine  Hospital  on 
Staten  Island,  many  of  whom  were  familiar  with  the  service 
previous  to  1847.  As  a  result  of  observation  and  from  in- 
formation received  from  others,  he  is  impressed  with  the 
belief  that  the  proportion  of  deaths  among  the  immigrants 
who  fled  from  the  famine  in  Ireland  was  for  several  years 
nearer  thirty  than  seventeen  per  cent.,  as  just  stated. 

It  is  possible  to  obtain  the  statistics  relating  to  the 
immigrants  who  landed  in  New  York ;  but  not  elsewhere  in 
the  United  States  with  certainty.  It  is  believed  that  the 
statistics  bearing  on  the  immigration  to  Canada  were  pre- 
served with  care  but  the  writer  has  not  been  able  to  procure 
them.  The  following,  however,  will  give  some  idea  of  the 
mortality:  In  1847  the  total  number  of  emigrants  leaving 
Ireland  for  Canada  was  89,783  persons.  The  Chief  Secre- 
tary for  Ireland  stated  in  a  report  that  of  these  emigrants 
6100  died  at  sea;  4100  on  their  arrival;  5200  shortly  after 
in  hospitals ;  and  1900  within  a  short  time  in  different  towns 
where  possibly  some  of  their  friends  resided ;  making  a  total 
of  17,300  deaths  or  19I  per  cent. 

If  the  same  system  existed  as  was  followed  by  the  Com- 
missioners of  Immigration  in  New  York  each  death  could  be 
traced,  as  the  Commission  was  responsible  for  the  welfare  of 
each  immigrant  for  five  years  after  arrival. 

No  one  has  taken  into  consideration  the  great  loss  of  life 
which  occurred  among  these  early  immigrants  from  tubercu- 
losis or,  as  it  is  commonly  termed,  consumption ;  a  disease 
which  afflicted  these  people  within  a  few  months  after  their 
arrival,  before  their  impaired  vitality  could  have  been  greatly 


Wholesale  Emigration  Necessary       309 

improved  and  while  they  were  yet  in  the  depressed  condition 
naturally  attending  the  uncertainty  of  success  in  their  new 
surroundings.  The  writer  can  clearly  recall  the  fact  that  an 
unduly  large  number  of  consumptive  cases,  especially  among 
the  men,  were  under  treatment  in  the  wards  of  the  Immi- 
grant Hospital. 

It  was  part  of  his  duty  at  one  time  to  conduct  all  the 
post-mortem  examinations,  as  it  was  necessary  to  study  the 
pathological  condition  of  those  who  died  from  ship-fever, 
cholera  and  other  diseases  with  which  the  physicians  of  the 
country  were  not  then  familiar. 

On  an  experience  based  upon  at  least  one  thousand  ex- 
aminations, made  personally  or  under  the  supervision  of  the 
writer,  it  can  be  stated  that  scarcely  an  individual  was  found 
without  evidence  of  disease  in  the  lungs.  Either  the  indi- 
vidual had  recovered,  leaving  a  scar  as  the  lung  had  healed, 
or  the  tuberculous  deposit  in  the  lung  known  as  consump- 
tion was  found  in  different  stages  of  softening;  this  action 
having  been  temporarily  arrested  by  the  acute  disease  which 
had  caused  death.  In  consequence  of  this  experience  the 
writer  feels  justified  in  claiming  that  fully  thirty  per  cent. 
of  those  who  were  forced  to  leave  Ireland  after  the  Famine 
died  in  consequence  thereof,  within  a  year  or  two. 

No  one  has  faithfully  described  the  suffering  among  the 
Irish  immigrants,  at  this  period,  during  their  voyage  across 
the  Atlantic  and  especially  among  the  women,  many  of 
whom  had  been  in  good  circumstances  previous  to  the 
Famine.  There  was  no  mitigation  of  the  suffering  of  the 
people  until  definite  action  was  taken  by  the  United  States 
Government  to  regulate  the  number  of  passengers  in  pro- 
portion to  a  certain  number  of  square  feet  of  deck  room  for 
each  individual  and  until  the  passage  of  a  law  forcing  the 
owners  of  the  vessels  to  furnish  food  and  to  adopt  a  number 
of  sanitary  measures.  Previous  to  this  law  the  suffering  en- 
dured was  greater  than  on  any  slave-ship  and  the  death-rate 
was  larger  than  it  would  have  been  from  any  pestilence  on 
shore.     In  the  beginning,  there  was  no  limit  to  the  number 


3IO  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

of  passengers  received  to  satisfy  the  greed  of  the  ship-owner, 
so  long  as  deck-room  could  be  found  ;  and  all  were  expected 
to  supply  their  own  provisions.  All,  as  a  rule,  were  in  the 
prime  of  life  but  there  were  very  few  whose  vitality  had  not 
been  already  seriously  impaired  by  the  Famine  before  sailing. 
Through  ignorance  and  often  from  want  of  means,  the  sup- 
ply of  provisions  laid  in  for  the  voyage  was  deficient  in 
quantity  and  lacking  in  quality.  The  result  was  that  in  a 
few  weeks,  if  typhus  fever  had  not  been  contracted  before 
sailing,  the  supply  of  food  would  become  exhausted  before 
even  half  the  voyage  had  been  accomplished.  For  the  re- 
mainder of  the  voyage  a  very  limited  quantity  from  the 
ship's  stores  would  be  doled  out  with  a  grudging  hand.  The 
article  generally  furnished  was  meal,  from  ground  Indian 
corn,  which  was  always  more  or  less  damaged  and,  with  in- 
adequate if  not  absence  of  facility  for  cooking,  together  with 
a  scanty  supply  even  of  good  water,  the  victims  soon  suf- 
fered from  dysentery  as  a  preparatory  stage  for  typhus,  a 
disease  also  known  as  "ship-fever."  With  persistent  sea- 
sickness, the  herding  together  of  the  sexes  as  so  many 
cattle,  with  no  privacy  nor  means  for  making  any  attempt  at 
cleanliness  of  either  person  or  surroundings,  it  naturally  fol- 
lowed that  gradually  the  immunities  of  civilized  life  were 
lost ;  so,  long  before  reaching  port,  the  hopeless  condition 
of  the  survivors  became  one  of  extreme  imbecility  of  both 
mind  and  body. 

The  early  emigrant  ship  was  not  always  sea-worthy  and 
generally  could  be  used  in  no  other  trade.  Through  the 
penurious  practice  of  the  owners  they  were  never  properly 
equipped  and  always  short-handed  and  relied  upon  such  aid 
as  the  male  passenger  might  give.  Consequently  these 
vessels  were  frequently  from  150  to  160  days  making  the 
voyage  and  often  after  sighting  land  they  would  be  driven 
back  by  adverse  winds  nearly  across  the  Atlantic  again.  No 
emigrant  ship  then  carried  a  physician  and  there  was  no 
help  for  those  who  were  stricken  down  with  fever;  all 
were  too  sick  or  indifferent  to  give  much  care  to  others. 


Horrors  of  the  Emigrant  Ship  311 

The  mortality,  therefore,  was  great  and  the  writer  can  recall 
hearing  of  several  instances  where  one-half  of  the  passengers 
had  died  and  been  thrown  overboard  before  the  voyage  was 
concluded.  The  most  pitiful  circumstance  and  one  that 
happened  not  infrequently  was  the  death  of  all  the  adults 
of  a  family,  leaving  a  child  too  young  even  to  know.  As 
young  children  did  not  seem  to  suffer  much  from  fever, 
many  instances  occurred  where  every  other  member  of  a 
family  died  on  the  voyage  and  the  child  remaining  could 
never  be  identified. 

It  was  not  in  the  line  of  duty  of  the  writer  to  board  on 
arrival  an  Irish  ship  but  the  fever  wards  were  under  his 
care  and  it  was  his  duty  to  take  charge  of  these  cases  as 
soon  as  they  could  be  carried  to  the  Hospital.  It  was  sel- 
dom that  any  passengers,  male  or  female,  on  these  early 
ships  could  obtain  privacy  enough  to  change  their  under- 
garments from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  the  voyage  and 
gradually  they  grew  sick  and  indifferent  and  would  be 
brought  ashore  weeks  afterward  unconscious  from  the  fever, 
starved  and  in  a  grievously  filthy  condition.  From  the 
boarding  officers  the  writer  has  received  most  graphic  ac- 
counts of  the  conditions  found.  Often  for  a  month  or  more 
before  the  arrival  of  an  immigrant  ship  the  suffering  was  great 
from  want  of  a  sufficient  supply  of  food  and  fresh  water, 
as  has  been  said ;  consequently  at  the  time  of  coming  into 
port  the  proportion  of  sick  immigrants  and  sailors  would  be 
greater  than  at  any  other  time  during  the  voyage.  Gen- 
erally on  arrival  all  remained  below  in  a  helpless  condition, 
as  many  had  been  for  days  without  the  slightest  care.  On 
opening  all  the  hatches  the  health  officer  was  frequently 
compelled  to  have  the  fire-engine  pump  started  that,  by 
means  of  a  stream  of  water,  the  deadly  atmosphere  between 
decks,  like  that  in  a  coal  pit,  might  be  sufficiently  purified 
to  render  comparatively  safe  the  undertaking  of  moving 
those  below. 

In  the  foulest  stench  that  can  be  conceived  of,  as  soon  as 
the  eyes  had  become  accustomed  to  the  darkness  prevailing 


312  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

everywhere  but  under  the  open  hatch,  a  mass  of  humanity, 
men,  women,  and  children,  would  be  seen  lying  over  each 
other  about  the  floor,  often  half  naked,  many  covered  with 
sores  and  all  with  filth  and  vermin  to  an  incredible  degree ; 
the  greater  portion  stupefied  or  in  a  delirious  condition 
from  typhus,  or  putrid,  fever,  cholera,  and  smallpox;  all 
were  helpless  and  among  them  were  often  found  bodies  of 
the  dead  in  a  more  or  less  advanced  stage  of  decomposition. 

Such  a  sight  would  surely  prompt  any  being,  above  the 
brute,  to  call  aloud  to  the  Great  God  for  vengeance  upon 
those  who  rendered  possible  in  any  country  a  condition  so 
destructive  of  life  that  the  people  in  their  flight  would  pre- 
fer even  such  an  alternative  as  this ! 

The  writer  from  his  earliest  childhood  had  been  familiar 
with  the  woes  of  the  Irish  people  but  the  impression  their 
suffering  made  upon  him  in  early  manhood,  from  his  per- 
sonal knowledge,  has  not  faded  but  become  the  more  in- 
tensified after  the  passage  of  some  fifty  years — and  so  it  will 
remain  until  death !  How  many  millions  are  there,  of  Irish 
birth  or  of  Irish  descent,  scattered  over  the  world,  who  hold 
the  same  feeling  of  bitterness  and,  if  not  checked,  will  not 
this  influence  ultimately  bear  bitter  fruit  for  England? 

It  is  beyond  the  charity  of  human  nature  that  those  who 
know  the  truth  should  make  one  single  allowance  for  the 
great  crime  which  has  been  perpetrated  against  Ireland  dur- 
ing the  past  three  hundred  years  at  least.  No  people  have 
ever  suffered  greater  martyrdom  than  the  Irish  Catholics, 
from  hatred  fostered  by  religious  bigotry  and  from  wilful 
neglect  by  England  of  the  duty  encumbent  upon  responsi- 
bility. Of  the  many  millions  of  Irish  people  who  have  lost 
their  lives  from  the  sword,  from  starvation  or  from  forced 
emigration,  since  England  became  responsible  for  the  welfare 
of  the  country,  scarcely  a  single  life  was  lost  which  could 
not  have  been  saved. 

If  we  accept  anything  in  Christianity  we  must  believe  in 
the  final  Judgment  and  that  in  the  justice  of  Almighty 
God  each  shall  be  judged ;  consequently  we  must  believe  in 


Ireland  Suffers  for  Religion  only       313 

adequate  punishment.  Nations  have  been  punished  as  such, 
even  though  it  may  seem  unjust  that  individuals  who  are 
innocent  should  suffer  for  the  crimes  committed  by  those 
who  constitute  the  Government.  And  on  the  great  day  of 
Judgment,  if  not  before,  justice  will  certainly  be  meted  out 
and  it  is  beyond  the  scope  of  human  intellect  to  realize  the 
extent  of  punishment  which  must  be  the  portion  of  all  who 
shall  then  be  proved  unjust  stewards  in  their  management 
of  Irish  affairs ! 

It  would  be  inconsistent  with  the  truth  were  we  to  attribute 
the  piteous  condition  of  Ireland  to  any  other  cause  than 
that  the  great  majority  of  the  Irish  people  belong  to  the 
Catholic  faith.  Had  the  Irish  been  willing  to  cast  aside, 
for  temporal  benefit,  the  faith  which  they  have  unflinchingly 
maintained  for  over  twelve  centuries,  their  country  would 
have  received  every  aid  to  advance  prosperity  which  would, 
with  their  greater  advantages  of  soil  and  climate,  have  been 
far  greater  than  that  attained  by  Scotland. 


CHAPTER   XX 

ENGLISH  GOVERNMENT  RESPONSIBLE  FOR  LOSS  OF  LIFE  IN 
IRELAND — EXTERMINATION  OF  THE  CATHOLICS  CON- 
SIDERED— CATHOLICS  HAVE  SUFFERED  EVEN  TO  THE 
PRESENT  DAY  FROM  UNJUST  DISCRIMINATION 

We  have  shown  that  it  was  beyond  human  effort,  so  far 
as  the  English  could  exercise  it,  to  accomplish  extermina- 
tion by  the  sword.  But  as  pestilence  and  famine,  the  direct 
concomitants  of  wilful  misrule  and  forced  emigration,  did  the 
work  year  after  year  most  effectually,  the  English  authori- 
ties were  too  well  satisfied  with  the  result  to  interfere ;  by 
masterly  inaction  they  have  striven  to  "help  on  the  good 
cause." 

An  effort  to  exterminate  the  Irish  Catholics  was  certainly 
made  as  early  as  the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth  and  we  have 
shown  that  it  was  openly  advocated  and  practised  long  after 
that  time. 

The  Lord  Deputy  of  Ireland  at  the  beginning  of  the 
seventeenth  century  stated  in  his  official  report  the  follow- 
ing: 

"  I  have  often  said  and  written,  it  is  the  famine  that  must  con- 
sume the  Irish,  as  our  swords  and  other  endeavors  worked  not  that 
speedy  effect  which  is  expected.  Hunger  would  be  better,  be- 
cause a  speedier  weapon  to  employ  against  them  than  the  sword."  * 

'  The  views  expressed  above  were  probably  due  to  the  failure  of  the  plan  of 
government  formulated  by  Perrot  a  short  time  before,  in  which  he  amply  pro- 
vided for  the  destruction  of  all  the  people  of  Ireland  who  were  found  to  be  not 
in   sympathy   with   England;    "  That   all  Brehons,    Carraghes,   Bardes  and 

314 


England's  Appreciation  of  Irish  Famines    315 

The  advantages  gained  from  famine,  as  thus  expressed, 
seem  to  have  been  as  fully  appreciated  in  the  nineteenth 
century. 

The  thoughtless  and  ignorant  will  cavil  or  at  least  claim 
that  this  charge  is  a  misrepresentation  of  facts.  Such  an 
issue  can  be  met  with  the  following  questions:  Is  it  among 
the  probabilities  that  the  condition  which  has  been  described, 
which  existed  in  Ireland  for  at  least  two  centuries  and  a 
half,  could  have  begun  in  England  or  in  Protestant  Scot- 
land without  Government  taking  prompt  action  to  insure 
against  its  repetition?  Crops  have  failed  in  England,  as 
they  must  do  sometimes  in  every  country,  but  did  the  Eng- 
lish ever  allow  a  single  individual  to  starve  to  death  in  Eng- 
land? Did  not  at  least  half  a  million  of  human  beings  starve 
to  death  during  a  few  months  in  Ireland  not  fifty  years  ago 
and  hundreds  nearly  every  year  since?  When  fever  or  any 
epidemic  has  occurred  in  England  from  time  to  time,  did 
the  English  Government  in  a  single  instance  neglect  to  check 
its  progress?  When  the  necessity  has  occurred  in  the  past, 
from  partial  failure  of  the  crops  in  England,  has  the  Govern- 
ment ever  hesitated  to  stop  the  exportation  of  food?  Has 
the  English  Government  ever  done  so  in  Ireland,  where 
there  has  never  been  a  general  famine  and  where,  in  every 
instance,  more  food  has  been  exported  at  the  time  than 
would  have  been  necessary  to  preserve  the  life  of  every  in- 
dividual who  died  from  want?  Is  it  presumable  that  in  a 
single  instance  the  English  authorities  were  in  ignorance  of 
the  real  conditions  existing  in  Ireland?  On  the  contrary,  the 
testimony  within  reach  of  any  investigator  shows  that  the 
British  Government  knew  of  the  true  conditions  long  before 
the  people,  who  had  not  the  same  facility ;  while  for  many 

Rymers  that  infect  the  people.  Friers,  Monks,  yesuites.  Pardoners,  Nuns  and 
such  like,  that  openly  seeke  the  maintenance  of  Papacy,  a  traytorous  kinde  of 
people,  the  bellowes  to  blow  the  coals  of  all  mischiefe  and  rebellion,  and  fit 
spies  of  Anti-Christ,  whose  kingdom  they  greedily  expect  to  be  restored,  be 
executed  by  Alarshal  Law,  and  their  Favourers  and  Maintainers  by  due  course 
of  law,  to  be  tryed  and  executed  as  in  case  of  treason.'" — Government  of  Ireland 
under  Sir  John  Perrot,  London,  1626,  p.  xxiv. 


3i6  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

months  beforehand  the  inevitable  consequences  were  ap- 
parent if  prompt  action  were  not  taken. 

Finally,  can  a  single  instance  be  cited  where  the  English 
Government  ever  made  an  effort  in  Ireland  with  as  honest 
a  purpose  to  afford  relief  as  it  would  have  shown  in  England 
under  like  circumstances? 

Mr.  O'Connor  quotes  from  a  speech  made  by  Lord  Car- 
lisle, July  5th,  i860,  at  Cork': 

"With  reference  to  the  general  concerns  of  Ireland,  I  feel  I 
am  justified  in  speaking  to  you,  upon  the  whole,  in  the  terms  of 
congratulation  and  hopefulness.  Then  the  mud  cabins  of  Ireland 
amounted  in  1841,  not  twenty  years  ago,  to  491,000;  they  have 
now  diminished  to  125,000.*  The  number  of  emigrants,  which  had 
been  gradually  decreasing  for  some  years,  has  somewhat  increased 
in  the  last  and  present  years.  .  .  .  They  now  co7nprise  many 
young  people  of  both  sexes  who  have  been  comparatively  well  edu- 
cated, and  who  hope  to  find  in  a  less  crowded  community  a  better 
market  for  their  industry,  and  a  more  adequate  demand  for  their 
natural  and  acquired  intelligence;  but  I  conceive  this  is  not  a 
symptom^  with  whatever  immediate  and  local  inconvenience  it  may 
no  doubt  be  attended,  at  which,  viewed  at  large,  we  ought  to 
repine!  "  * 

Mr.  O'Connor  states  (page  45): 

"  Vast  masses  tried  to  make  their  way  to  America.  In  the  year 
1845,  74,969  persons  emigrated  from  Ireland;  in  1846  the  number 
had  risen  to  105,955,  during  1847  it  rose  to  215,444.  No  means 
were  taken  to  preserve  these  poor  people  from  the  rapacity  of 
ship-owners.  The  landlords,  delighted  at  getting  rid  of  them, 
made  bargains  for  their  conveyance  wholesale  and  at  small  prices ; 
and  in  those  days  emigrant  ships  were  under  no  sanitary  restric- 
tions of  any  effectiveness.  Thus  the  emigrants,  already  half 
starved  and  fever  stricken,  were  pushed  into  berths  that  rivalled 
the  cabins  of  Mayo,  or  the  fever-sheds  of  Skibbereen.     Crowded 

'  P.  130. 

*  He  does  not  state  what  had  become  of  the  occupants. 

*  Sir  Charles  Gavan  Duffy,  Four  Years  of  Irish  History,  p.  531. 


Millions  Emigrate  to  Escape  Starvation    2)^7 

and  filthy,  carrying  double  the  legal  number  of  passengers,  who 
were  ill-fed  and  imperfectly  clothed  and  having  no  doctor  on 
board,  the  holds,'  says  an  eye-witness,'  '  were  like  the  Black  Hole 
of  Calcutta,  and  deaths  in  myriads.'  " 

Mr.  O'Connor  continues  (page  131): 

*'A  few  statistics  will  bring  clearly  before  the  mind  of  the 
reader  how  the  policy  of  expatriation  was  working: 
"  Emigration  from  Ireland  *: 

1S49-1860 1,551,000 

1861-1870 867,000 

"  And  another  table  will  be  still  more  instructive,  it  is  the  ratio 
of  the  ages  of  emigrants: 

Under  15  years 15  per  cent. 

15  to  35  years 75  per  cent. 

Over  35  years 10  per  cent. 

"  Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  only  half  the  case  is  stated  when  it 
is  said  that  emigration — with  great  assistance  from  hunger,  plague, 
and  eviction — within  the  years  1845  and  1885  has  reduced  the 
population  by  nearly  one-half:  the  half  that  emigrated  was  the 
better,  the  half  that  remained  was  the  worse  half  of  the  popula- 
tion. Seventy-five  per  cent,  of  the  emigrants  were  between 
fifteen  and  thirty-five — the  best  years  in  the  life  of  men  or  women. 
'  During  the  seven  months  of  the  year  '  (1863),  wrote  the  Times, ^ 
'  80,000,  chiefly  young  men  and  women,  have  left  Ireland, 
most  of  them  forever.  They  have  gone  off  with  money  in  their 
pockets,  and  with  strong  limbs  and  stout  hearts.  They  have  left 
behind  the  ailing,  the  weak  arid  the  aged. ' 

"  There  is  no  passion  like  the  suppressed  passion  of  statistics; 
and  I  leave  these  figures  to  tell  their  own  moral.  Meantime, 
there  was  one  force  further  which  must  be  reckoned  among  the 
factors  that  produced  the  temper  of  Ireland  at  this  epoch. 

"  The  sight  of  a  race  rushing  from  its  native  land  in  millions 

'  Mulhall's  Dictionary  of  Statistics,  p.  168. 

*  Tke  Speeches,  Lectures,  and  Poems,  etc.,  of  the  Earl  0/  Carlisle, -p^.  17S-181. 

2  Quoted  in  The  Nation,  Oct.  24,  1863. 


3i8  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

might,  it  would  be  thought,  have  touched  even  enemies  as  mark- 
ing the  very  height  of  tragic  suffering.  But  such  was  not  the 
effect  upon  the  journalism  of  England.  As  the  Irish  peasants 
left  their  country  in  curses  and  tears,  the  English  newspapers 
seized  every  opportunity  of  mocking  at  their  sufferings  and  their 
demands  for  the  reform  of  the  laws  by  which  their  misery  and 
their  enforced  exile  were  produced.  The  Times  and  other  Eng- 
lish journals  over  and  over  again  pointed  with  exultation  to  the 
probability  that  the  Irish  race  would  be  annihilated  in  Ireland, 
and  that  the  country  would  then  be  entirely  seized  by  the  popu- 
lation of  the  stronger  country. 

"  '  If  this  goes  on  long  (the  emigration  in  i860)  as  it  is  con- 
tinuing to  go  on,  Ireland  will  become  very  English,  and  the 
United  States  very  Irish.  When  an  English  agriculturist  takes  a 
farm  in  Galway  or  Kerry,  he  will  take  English  labourers  with 
him.'  ' 

"  'The  Irish  will  go  (it  wrote  in  1863).  English  and  Scotch 
settlers  must  be  speedily  got  in  their  places  for  Great  Britain  will 
suffer,  the  British  markets  will  go.'  ^ 

"  '  The  Celt  (it  wrote  again  in  1865)  goes  to  yield  to  the  Saxon, 
This  island  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  harbours,  with  its  fertile 
soil,  with  noble  rivers  and  beautiful  lakes,  with  fertile  mines  and 
riches  of  every  kind,  is  being  cleared  quietly  for  the  interest  and 
luxury  of  humanity!  *  ^ 

"This  extract,  finally,  from  the  leading  English  journal: 

"  *  Curran  used  to  say  that  his  countrymen  made  very  bad  sub- 
jects, but  much  worse  rebels.  The  mot  was  a  good  one  in  its 
own  day,  but  it  has  not  lost  its  point.  .  .  .  Comparative 
anatomists  of  political  societies  might,  by  a  close  study  of  it,  per- 
haps make  a  complete  sketch  of  the  social  monstrosity  which  such 
a  phrase  would  fit — a  discontented,  hungry,  empty-bellied  com- 
munity, begging  for  alms;  too  idle  to  work,  too  shrewd  to  fight, 
too  profoundly  convinced  of  the  dishonesty  of  its  own  members 
to  do  aught  but  shout  and  roar  and  threaten  and  beg!  '  * 

"  An  Irish  priest,  lamenting  the  wrongs  of  Ireland,  was  de- 

'  Quoted  in  The  Irishman,  May  12,  i860. 

*  Quoted  in  The  Nation,  Nov.  4,  1863. 
^Ibid.,  Nov.  6,  1858. 

*  Ibid.,  Aug.  26,  1865. 


England  Exults  over  Forced  Emigration    319 

scribed  in  the  Daily  Telegraph  as  *  a  surpliced  ruffian  ' ;  a  Catholic 
Archbishop,  mourning  over  the  emigration,  was  described  by  the 
Saturday  Review  as  regretting  the  departure  '  of  the  demons  of 
assassination  and  murder.' 

"  '  The  Lion  of  St.  Garlath's,'  said  the  article  of  the  Saturday 
Review,  November  28,  1863,  '  had  groveled  in  grievous  dudgeon 
that  bucolic  tastes  are  prevailing  in  Ireland.'  Archbishop  John 
of  Tuam  surveys  with  an  envious  eye  what,  in  a  Churchman, 
it  seems  rather  profane  to  style  the  Irish  Exodus;  and  in  a 
letter  addressed  to  Mr.  Gladstone  .  .  .  he  sighs  over  the 
departing  demo)is  of  assassination  and  murder.  Like  his  friend 
Mr.  Smith  O'Brien,  he  regrets  the  loss  of  the  raw  materials  of 
treason  and  sedition.  Ireland,  he  says,  is  relapsing  into  a 
desert,  tenanted  by  lowing  herds  instead  of  howling  assassins. 
So  complete  is  the  rush  of  departing  marauders,  whose  lives  were 
profitably  employed  in  shooting  Protestants  from  behind  a  hedge, 
that  silence  reigns  over  the  vast  solitude  in  Ireland. 
Ireland  has  long  been  seething  in  the  flames  of  misrule  and  agi- 
tation and  sedition.  Ireland  is  boiling  over,  and  the  scum  flows 
across  the  Atlantic;  and  the  more  the  Archbishop  and  the  like  of 
him  blow  at  the  fire,  the  more  the  scum  will  boil  over.  It  can 
be  spared,  and  the  many  excellencies  of  the  Irish  people  (not 
found  among  the  Catholics)  will  only  become  the  more  excellent 
by  the  present  process  of  defecation!  The  evidence  is  before 
the  reader,  let  the  judgment  be  a  dispassionate  one." 

Mr.  O'Connor  writes  (page  133): 

"  Such,  then,  was  the  condition  of  Ireland  in  the  interval  be- 
tween 1855  and  1865.  It  is  one  of  the  saddest  and  most  dreadful 
stories  in  all  history.  It  is  the  spectacle,  under  the  semblance  of 
law,  and  without  any  particular  noise,  and  certainly  without  at- 
tracting any  particular  attention,  of  an  ancient  and  brave  nation 
being  slowly  but  surely  wiped  out  of  existence.  Not  a  section,  or 
a  class,  or  a  percentage,  but  the  whole  people  were  being  swept 
away,  their  land  was  yearly  becoming  more  desolate,  and  all  the 
probabilities  pointed  to  the  near  advent  of  the  period  when  the 
country  would  be  one  great  sheep  and  cattle  farm,  with  the  vast 
desert  broken  only  at  long  intervals  by  the  herd. 


320  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

**  '  In  a  few  years  more,'  says  the  London  Times,  'a  Celtic  Irish- 
man will  be  as  rare  in  Connemara  as  is  the  red  Indian  on  the 
shores  of  Manhattan,'  so  quoted  Mr.  A.  W.  Sullivan." 

Mr.  O'Connor  adds: 

"  Meantime  the  Imperial  Parliament  looked  on  and  did  noth- 
ing; the  rulers  declared  that  hellish  work  was  good;  the  press 
of  the  dominant  country  hissed  out  triumphant  hate;  and  the 
popular  representation  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  self-seekers, 
heartless,  lying  and  base.  It  is  in  such  periods  that  a  desperate 
spirit  is  evoked  and  is  necessary.  The  masses  of  the  people  were 
still  sound,  and  there  were  among  the  population  chosen  spirits 
who  were  resolved  to  show  that  the  struggle,  which  had  been 
maintained  through  so  many  centuries,  was  not  even  yet  at  an 
end ;  that,  if  the  Irish  nation  were  to  be  murdered,  at  least  her 
people  would  try  to  make  one  final  and  desperate  stand ;  and  that 
her  political  life  would  find  other  types  than  the  pestilent  race  of 
Robagas."  * 

For  the  past  forty  years  or  more  emigration  has  gone  on 
from  Ireland  unchecked  until  within  a  recent  period.  The 
Chief  Secretary  of  Ireland  stated  in  the  House  of  Commons, 
May  20,  1901,  that  the  population  of  Ireland,  ascertained 
by  the  recent  census,  was  4,456,546,  a  decrease  of  five  and 
three-tenths  per  cent,  since  the  last  enumeration  ten  years 
previous.  It  was  also  stated  that  for  the  first  time  the 
population  of  Scotland  was  found  to  be  greater  than  Ire- 
land; fifty  years  ago  that  of  Ireland  was  twice  as  great  as 
Scotland. 

According  to  the  census  of  Ireland,  as  published  by  the 
Government,  the  population  was,  in 

1S51 6,574,271  1881 5,174,836 

1861 5,798,967  1891 4,704,750 

1871 5,412,377  1901 4,356,546 

Thus  the  population  of  Ireland  is  shown  to  have  decreased 
348,204  individuals  during  the  previous  ten  years,  notwith- 
standing the  natural  increase  of  a  prolific  people ! 

'  Mr.  O'Connor  has  reference  to  a  French  play  by  Sardou,  published  in  1872, 
as  a  satire  on  politicians  who  play  the  demagogue  as  a  trade. 


Ireland  Could  Support  Fifty  Millions     321 

Arthur  Young,  a  close  observer  and  a  noted  authority  on 
all  pertaining  to  agriculture  as  a  science,  was  particularly 
impressed  with  the  fertile  lands  of  Ireland.  In  his  Tour 
in  Ireland,  etc.  (Dublin,  1782),  he  estimated  that  if  the 
country  were  fully  cultivated  the  yield  could  support  a 
population  of  one  hundred  million  !  and  yet  there  are  deaths 
from  starvation  in  a  country  which  has  become  a  vast  cattle 
range,  so  that  from  this  and  other  causes  the  people  are 
crowded  into  the  bogs  and  barren  "congested  districts," 
where  the  land  cannot  yield  enough  for  the  support  of  five 
per  cent,  of  the  number  estimated  by  Young.  Doubtless 
his  figures  are  excessive  but  no  one  familiar  with  the  nat- 
ural resources  of  Ireland  would  question  that  a  population  of 
fifty  millions  could  be  provided  for  under  favorable  cir- 
cumstances. While  the  population  of  Ireland  is  now  two- 
thirds  less  than  it  was  one  hundred  years  ago  and  has  lost 
one-third  in  the  past  fifty  years,  that  of  England  and 
Wales  has  increased  from  17,927,609  to  32,525,716,  accord- 
ing to  the  last  census,  while  that  of  Scotland  has  doubled, 
with  the  disadvantage  of  being  comparatively  a  barren 
country. 

How  much  has  the  "fostering  care"  of  the  British  Govern- 
ment done  for  Ireland  at  any  time  but  particularly  during 
this  period? 

It  may  be  fairly  claimed  that  during  this  period  the  chief 
source  of  revenue  for  the  Irish  people  came  from  her  sons 
and  daughters  abroad.  It  is  impossible  to  estimate  the 
amount  correctly  but  on  good  authority  it  is  held  that  the 
servant  girls  of  New  York,  Philadelphia  and  Boston  alone 
have  frequently  sent  to  their  friends  in  Ireland  not  less  than 
ten  millions  of  dollars  in  a  year. 

We  have  quoted  from  the  London  Press  some  objections 
made  to  raising  money  for  the  relief  of  the  sufferers  in  Ire- 
land during  the  famine,  the  opposition  to  supporting  "in 
idleness  a  lazy  people."  We  continue  the  subject  by  quot- 
ing the  following ' : 

'  Marmion's  Ancient  and  Modern  History  of  the  Alaritime  Ports,  p.  56. 

VOL.  I.— 21. 


322  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

"  As  to  the  imputation  that  the  Irish  were  a  lazy  people,  and 
wanted  to  live  in  idleness,  on  the  industry  of  the  English  trades- 
men, facts  and  circumstances  have  amply  shown  the  foulness  of 
the  assertion." 

After  making  reference  to  the  success  of  the  Irish  emigrant 
in  other  countries  and  paying  just  tribute  to  their  continued 
recollection  of  their  suffering  relatives  at  home,  this  writer 
states : 

"  For  the  last  seven  years  "  (which  would  be  just  previous  to 
1858),  "  six  millions  sterling  have  been  transmitted  through  pub- 
lic channels  to  this  country,  independent  of  private  remittance, 
by  these  '  idle  vagabonds.'  " 


Mr.  John  Morley,  while  Chief  Secretary  of  Ireland  in  i< 
in  a  public  speech  as  reported  in  the  Dublin  Press,  stated : 

"  I  for  one  have  long  had  a  high  appreciation  of  the  great 
qualities  of  the  Irish  people.  They  are  called  idle,  restless,  dis- 
contented. Idle  ?  The  Irish  people  have  done  the  greatest  part 
of  the  hard  work  of  the  world.  Idle  ?  When  the  Irish  peasants 
and  generations  of  Irish  peasants  have  reclaimed  the  land,  the 
harsh,  thankless  land  of  the  bog  and  the  mountain  side;  have  re- 
claimed that  land,  knowing  that  the  fruit  of  their  labour  would  be 
confiscated  in  the  shape  of  rent. ' ' 

The  English  people  at  large  are  becoming  more  tolerant 
or  indifferent  but,  as  already  stated,  the  English  Govern- 
ment never  changes  its  policy;  and  the  same  intolerant 
spirit,  termed  conservatism,  is  as  active  to-day  as  it  was  cen- 
turies ago.  It  is  true  the  English  people  would  not  as  a 
whole  now  permit  the  open  persecutions  of  the  past  which 
endangered  life  but  a  small  minority,  the  Orangemen,  still 
as  of  old  secretly  direct  the  policy  in  Ireland  and  do  so  with 
the  same  lack  of  liberality.  As  these  men  hold  of^ce  or 
have  the  needed  facilities  to  insure  a  ready  support  directly 
or  indirectly  for  themselves  and  friends,  all  effort  from  any 
source  made  for  the  prosperity  of  the  country  at  large  will 
be  opposed  by  them  to  the  bitter  end,  with  the  tacit  support 
of  the  Government.     The  spirit  of  persecution  which  can- 


Modern  Discrimination  against  Catholics    323 

not  be  fully  vented  at  the  present  day  is  yet  shown  every- 
where in  Ireland  by  the  exclusion  of  Catholics,  as  far  as 
possible,  from  every  office  of  position  and  trust.  It  has 
been  shown  that  throughout  Ireland,  wherever  the  Catho- 
lics have  been  in  the  majority,  the  people  have  always 
been  tolerant  and  that,  if  any  preference  has  been  shown 
in  selection  for  office,  it  has  been  in  favor  of  Protestants. 
Yet  not  an  instance  can  be  cited  since  the  passage  of  the 
Emancipation  Act,  which  was  supposed  to  give  equal  rights 
to  all,  where  a  practical  Catholic  has  ever  been  elected  to 
ofifice  in  the  Protestant  portion  of  Ulster  or  in  any  other 
section  of  Ireland  where  the  Catholics  were  in  the  minority. 
Legally  the  Catholics  have  the  same  rights  but  they  are  still 
excluded,  when  possible,  from  serving  on  Grand  Juries,  from 
being  magistrates  and  from  holding  other  offices  whenever 
the  question  of  "Protestant  Ascendancy"  can  be  raised. 
The  religious  test  can  be  the  only  one  as,  notwithstanding 
so  long  deprived  by  law  of  every  educational  advantage,  at 
the  present  time  there  are  in  Ireland  as  many  educated 
Catholics  as  there  are  of  any  other  faith ;  while  in  some  sec- 
tions the  average  degree  of  acquirement  would  be  in  favor 
of  the  Catholics.  Yet  birth  and  education,  with  a  life  spent 
in  moral  rectitude,  as  the  claim  of  a  candidate  for  ofifice 
would  carry  little  weight  in  Ireland  with  the  bigot  as  an  off- 
set to  a  difference  in  religious  belief. 

The  English  Government  from  time  to  time  has  apparently 
shown  to  the  Catholics,  nominally  at  least,  a  more  concilia- 
tory spirit  than  has  its  immediate  supporters  in  Ireland.  The 
term  "nominally  "  is  wittingly  used,  as  the  Government  has 
seemed  frequently  to  exercise  a  favoritism  in  selecting  those 
who  would  best  serve  its  purpose.  While  there  have  been 
some  notable  exceptions  and  some  most  estimable  Irishmen 
selected  as  Catholics  to  hold  office  under  the  British  Govern- 
ment in  Ireland,  there  have  been  too  many  chosen  who  were 
not  shining  lights  as  Catholics  and  who  were  as  little  inter- 
ested afterwards  in  the  welfare  of  the  country  at  large  as  any 
other  English  office-holder. 


324 


Ireland  under  English  Rule 


The  writer  is  not  in  possession  of  any  special  official  in- 
formation to  show  what  proportion  of  the  office-holders  are 
Catholics.  This  subject  is  certainly  very  distasteful  but,  as 
one  of  the  grievances  from  which  the  Irish  people  have  so 
long  suffered,  it  must  be  discussed  that  the  reader  may 
know  the  truth.  This  great  injustice  has  been  ignored  to 
such  an  extent  even  by  Catholic  writers,  that  no  available 
or  accurate  information  can  be  obtained  through  any  other 
source  than  an  occasional  editorial  in  the  public  press. 

The  following  was  published  in  the  Dublin  Freeman  s 
Journal,  September  24,  1900: 

'*  Mr.  John  Atkinson's  vindication  of  the  Government  against 
any  mean-spirited  desire  to  conciliate  Irish  Catholics  by  giving 
them  a  fair  share  in  the  administration  of  the  country  of  whose 
population  they  form  three-fourths  is  certainly  complete  and 
unanswerable.  It  is  worth  more  than  the  passing  attention  of 
Catholics  themselves.  *  No  record,'  the  Attorney-General  said  at 
Rathmines  on  Friday  night,  '  is  kept  of  the  political  or  religious 
opinions  of  the  persons  e7nployed  in  Government  posts. '  He  had, 
however,  caused  inquiries  to  be  made,  and  the  result  he  had 
arrived  at,  which  was  substantially  accurate,  he  would  give,  etc." 

The  following  is  a  statement  made  by  Mr.  Atkinson,  the 
Attorney-General  of  Ireland,  to  vindicate  the  Government, 
and  is  reduced  to  a  tabular  form : 


OFFICE    HELD 


Privy  Councillors 

Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court 

County  Court  Judges 

Crown  Solicitors 

Presidents  of  the  Queen's  Colleges 

Resident  Magistrates 

Resident  Commissioner  of  National  Board. 
Commissioner  of  Local  Government  Boards 
Inspectors  of  Local  Government  Boards. . . 
Auditors  of  Local  Government  Boards. . . . 
Total  number  of  each  religious 

belief  holding  office 


CHURCH  OF 

PRESBY- 

ENGLAND 

TERIANS 

10 

3 

2 

I 

2 

I 

5 

10 

I 

2 

5 

I 

5 

41 

7 

CATHOLICS 


2 

I 
I 
I 
2 

3 
I 
I 
2 
I 

15 


Statistics  of  Government  Appointments    325 

The  editor  of  the  Freeman  s  Journal  continues : 

"  The  Hst  accounts  for  sixty-seven  '  official  appointments.  Of 
the  sixty-seven  only  fifteen  are  Catholics.  In  other  words,  while 
more  than  three  out  of  four  of  the  population  are  Catholics,  more 
than  three  out  of  four  of  the  appointments  made  by  the  executive 
of  the  country  are  Protestants.  The  list  is  even  more  complete 
for  one  of  the  Catholics  appointed  to  the  Queen's  College  has 
since  been  'nullified.'  " 

The  July  number,  1901,  of  the  Nineteenth  Century  Maga- 
zine contains  an  article,  "The  Romanization  of  Ireland," 
by  Professor  Mahaffy,  of  Trinity  College,  Dublin. 

The  paper  is  well  written  from  false  premises  and  the 
standpoint  of  an  Orangeman,  who  is  still  unable  to  under- 
stand that  the  great  Catholic  majority  of  the  people  of 
Ireland  have  any  rights.  The  prominence  of  the  Catholic 
Church,  the  self-assertion  of  its  members,  the  large  number 
he  alleges  holding  office  and  the  unfitness,  in  his  belief,  of 
Catholics  for  citizenship  in  consequence  of  their  faith  form 
the  chief  points  of  grievance. 

He  states : 

"  There  is  nothing  so  obvious  to  any  intelligent  man,  who  has 
left  Ireland  as  a  youth,  thirty  or  forty  years  ago,  for  some  distant 
colony  and  who  returns  to  visit  his  old  home  now,  than  the 
mighty  increase  of  the  Church  of  Rome  in  wealth  and  importance. 
During  this  period  the  very  face  of  the  country  has  changed. 
There  is  not  a  country  town  in  which  he  remembers  a  respectable 
Established  parish  church,  and  a  Roman  Catholic  chapel  of  poor 
and  mean  aspect,  hidden  away  on  the  outskirts  and  only  attended 
by  the  poor,  where  he  does  not  now  find  a  great  new  chapel, 
styled  a  church,  or  even  a  cathedral,  in  the  most  prominent  place, 
or  on  the  most  prominent  eminence  beside  the  town,  out-topping 
and  out-facing  the  Protestant  church,  which  seems  to  have  shrunk 
in  dimensions.  This  is  so,  not  only  in  the  essentially  Roman 
Catholic  South,  but  throughout  the  North.  Monaghan  and 
Armagh,  Clones  and  Letterkenny,  may  serve  as  instances.  The 
'  In  the  tabulation  evidently  four  have  been  omitted. 


326  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

congregations,  too,  are  completely  changed  in  aspect;  they  are 
not  poor  people  in  rags,  trudging  barefoot  to  chapel,  but  com- 
fortable and  even  wealthy  people — men  in  broadcloth,  women  in 
sealskin  and  with  feathers  in  their  hats,  coming  on  their  cars 
among  the  humbler  people,  and  showing  clearly  that  their  creed 
is  no  longer  discountenanced  by  the  State  or  by  society, 

"  This  remarkable  growth  of  great  churches  is  no  isolated  phe- 
nomenon. In  the  neighbourhood  of  almost  every  town,  the  re- 
turning visitor,  who  thinks  of  forty  years  ago,  finds  great  religious 
houses  erected,  some  upon  land  bought  for  the  purpose,  many 
more  in  the  enlarged  mansions  of  the  old  gentry  who  have  dis- 
appeared and  have  sold  their  ancestral  places  to  those  who  bid 
highest  in  the  market.  Any  one  who  takes  his  walks  round  the 
suburbs  of  Dublin  can  verify  this  change.  If  he  was  there  long 
ago,  the  bells  he  heard  were  Protestant  bells,  those  of  the  parish 
churches,  seldom  tolled  except  on  Sundays.  The  bells  he  now 
hears  are  almost  all  Catholic  bells,  tolled  on  many  saints'  days 
and  holy  days;  and  if  there  are  not  yet  processions  of  ecclesiastics 
in  their  robes  through  the  streets,  there  are  frequent  religious 
people  to  be  seen  in  their  costume — Sisters  of  Charity,  theological 
students,  even  at  times  a  Franciscan  monk.  All  these  manifes- 
tations, which  seemed  afraid  to  show  themselves  to  our  fathers, 
and  were  barely  tolerated  by  the  law,  are  now  not  only  protected 
but  treated  with  marked  respect." 

Altogether  an  interesting  statement,  to  which  the  general 
answer  would  be — Why  should  not  the  conditions  com- 
plained of  naturally  exist,  unless  impossible  from  bigotry 
and  persecution  as  in  former  years? 

Professor  Mahaffy  is  not  pleased  with  others  who  are  out- 
side the  fold  of  the  Disestablished  Church,  as  he  makes  the 
statement  that : 

"  Amid  the  higher  classes  of  northern  Protestants  there  are  also 
tendencies  favouring  Roman  Catholic  advancement  which  cannot 
but  have  their  fatal  effect.  So  bitter  is  the  jealousy  with  which 
many  Dissenters  regard  the  Irish  Church,  that  they  frequently 
make  alliance  with  Roman  Catholics  to  overcome  Church  in- 
fluence.    They  have  indeed  felt  the  sting  of  persecution  from  the 


Fanatical  Influence  of  Trinity  College     327 

Irish  Bishops  in  former  days  more  intensely  than  their  Catholic 
neighbours,  for  these  latter  were  conscious  of  their  own  disloyalty 
to  the  British  Crown,  whereas  the  Dissenters  had  in  them  all  the 
hereditary  loyalty  of  English  and  Scotchmen.  But  as  it  was  in 
the  decade  from  1790,  so  it  was,  in  a  milder  degree,  in  the  decade 
of  1890 — a  sort  of  league  or  understanding  that  the  once  domi- 
nant creed  must  be  stripped  of  every  vestige  of  its  old  position  in 
the  country." 

The  writer  evidently  does  not  appreciate  the  justice  of 
retribution.      He  concludes : 

"  The  historian  will  not  turn  aside  to  dispense  praise  or  blame 
in  reviewing  these  facts.  It  is  least  of  all  his  duty  to  blame  the 
Roman  Catholic  policy,  which  by  steady  political  pressure,  accen- 
tuated by  occasional  rebellions  and  frequent  violations  of  order 
or  of  imposed  law,  has  converted  a  once  oppressed  and  long  un- 
forgiving majority  into  the  almost  dominant  power.  The  spread 
of  democratic  reform  made  this  change  not  only  easy  but  in- 
evitable. Put  the  voting  power  into  the  hands  of  Catholics 
guided  by  their  clergy,  and  who  can  blame  them  if  they  use  these 
votes  to  wrest  political  and  social  power  from  their  former  op- 
pressors? Only  a  bigot  would  be  satisfied  with  the  retort  that  all 
injustices  under  which  Catholics  laboured  are  long  abolished. 
The  memory  of  them  is  not  abolished.  The  social  distinctions 
they  created  are  not  abolished;  and  the  majority  is  one,  not  of 
Stoic  philosophers,  but  of  men  and  women  full  of  passion  and 
prejudice.  No  just  man  can  say  they  are  to  blame  except  in 
mistaking  the  interests  of  Rome  for  the  interests  of  Ireland. 

"The  Irish  Roman  Catholic  peasantry,  and  even  the  classes 
superior  to  them,  are  indeed  above  the  corresponding  classes  in 
England  in  general  intelligence,  in  social  charm,  in  quick  sym- 
pathy, in  cheerfulness  and  versatility  under  difficulties.  But  they 
are  inferior  i?i  honesty,  iti  diligence^  in  laivfulness,  i?i  sturdiness. 
It  is  only  by  means  of  these  latter  qualities  that  local  self-govern- 
ment can  ever  be  successful.  To  grant  privileges  in  the  ex- 
pectation that  they  will  create  the  necessary  virtues  which  deserve 
them,  is  getting  the  cart  before  the  horse.  It  is,  indeed,  not  cer- 
tain whether  a  long  and  gradual  system  of  education  in  politics 


328  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

will  ever  turn  the  Roman  Catholic  Irishman,  when  he  has  the 
whole  field  to  himself,  into  a  law-loving,  thrifty  citizen.  Even 
on  the  new  soil  of  America,  while  the  Protestant  emigrants  from 
the  North  have  proved  a  great  accession  of  strength  to  the 
United  States,  the  Roman  Catholic  emigrants,  crowding  together 
in  the  cities,  have  been  a  source  of  grave  political  disorder.  The 
possession  of  ample  privileges  there  has  not  yet  cured  them  of 
their  defects." 

Countless  thousands  of  Irishmen  have  emigrated  to  the 
American  continent  during  the  past  three  centuries  and  as 
exemplary  citizens  they  have  contributed  mentally  and 
physically  more  than  any  other  race  to  the  development  of 
their  adopted  country ;  and  this  fact,  now^  well-established, 
proves  also  that,  vv^here  an  exception  has  occurred,  it  was  due 
neither  to  nationality  of  section  nor  its  creed.  One  is  to  be 
sincerely  pitied  whose  mental  faculties  are  so  blunted  by 
bigotry  that  for  him  the  impious  charge  is  possible  against 
any  Christian  belief  that  it  contains  the  inevitable  tend- 
ency to  lower  the  moral  status  of  even  a  single  individual 
much  less  that  of  a  whole  people.  To  those  who  have 
the  light,  Protestant  or  Catholic,  it  will  be  evident  that 
cause  of  failure  is  not  due  to  the  doctrine  but  to  neglect  of 
precept. 

This  article  was  answered  in  the  following  number  of  the 
Nineteenth  Century  by  Mr.  John  F.  Taylor,  K.C.,  a  Protes- 
tant barrister  of  Dublin,  under  the  following  title:  "Down- 
Trodden  Irish  Protestants,  an  Appendix  to  Mr.  MahafTy's 
Paper  in  the  July  number  of  this  Review."  The  greater 
portion  of  Mr.  Taylor's  statement  will  be  utilized  for  show- 
ing that  the  Catholics  are  not  the  office-holders  in  Ireland. 
He  states: 

"  The  census  just  published  may  be  taken  as  showing  that  the 
Catholics  of  Ireland  are  to  the  Protestants  of  Ireland  considerably 
more  than  two  to  one;  more  approximately  three  to  one. 

"  It  is  interesting  to  see  how  the  country  so  peopled  is  ruled  and 
judged.     The  Government  of  Ireland  is  carried  on  by  what  may 


A  Protestant  on  ''  Protestant  Ascendency  "    329 

be  called  the  *  Dublin  Castle  Cabinet, '  nominees  of  the  West- 
minster Cabinet. 

"The  Dublin  Cabinet  consists  of  two  Englishmen  and  four 
Irishmen.  All  are  Protestants.  The  Lord  Lieutenant,  the  Lord 
Chancellor,  the  Chief  Secretary,  the  Under-Secretary,  the  At- 
torney-General, and  the  Solicitor-General  are  all  amiable  and 
worthy  men.  But  room  for  a  single  Papist  could  not  be  found 
amongst  them. 

"By  law  the  Lord  Lieutenant  must  be  a  Protestant,  and  his 
whole  official  entourage  is  also  necessarily  Protestant. 

"  The  Commander  of  the  Forces  and  the  Chief  Secretary  need 
not  be  Protestants,  but  no  Catholic  ever  yet  filled  either  of  these 
important  and  exalted  offices. 

"  The  Castle  Cabinet  appoints  the  judges. 

"There  are  eighteen  judges  of  the  High  Court.  Of  these, 
fifteen  are  Protestants  and  three  Catholics.  There  are  twenty- 
one  County  Court  judges.  Of  these,  fifteen  are  Protestants  and 
six  Catholics.  There  are  seventy-two  Stipendiary  Magistrates. 
Fifty-six  are  Protestants  and  sixteen  Catholics. 

"  The  Royal  Irish  Constabulary  is  a  force  in  which  the  Catho- 
lics exceed  the  Protestants  by  two  to  one,  but  of  their  officers 
this  is  the  summary:  The  Inspector-General  is  a  Protestant, 
thirty-two  out  of  thirty-seven  County  Inspectors  are  Protestants, 
while  of  the  two  hundred  District  Inspectors  about  twenty  or 
thirty  are  Catholics.  The  heads  of  the  great  departments  are 
Protestants.  The  two  most  important  are  the  Board  of  Works 
and  the  Local  Government  Board,  both  of  which  impinge  on 
local  popular  administration  at  many  points,  and  these  two  Boards 
are  practically  Primrose  League  Habitations  with  one  tame 
Catholic  in  each. 

"  Every  public  office  where  appointments  are  made  by  nomina- 
tion is  crammed  with  Protestants. 

"  Only  in  the  offices  open  to  competition  like  the  Customs,  the 
Excise,  the  Post-office,  and  the  other  departments  to  which 
Class  I.  and  Class  II.  clerks  by  competitive  examination  are 
appointed,  can  one  find  a  certain  number  of  Catholics.  Even 
there  the  higher  posts  are  usually  filled  by  Protestants;  for  ex- 
amination only  ensures  fair  play  in  the  first  step,  and  'Preferment 
goes  by  letter  and  affection, '  though  not  to  the  extent  common 


330  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

in  offices  where  nomination  obtains.  Of  the  one  hundred  and 
seventy-three  Irish  peers,  only  fourteen  (including  Viscount 
Taaffe  of  Austria)  are  Catholics,  and  it  is  needless  to  say  that  the 
whole  body  of  representative  Irish  peers  (twenty-eight  in  num- 
ber) is  free  from  all  Papistical  taint. 

"An  Irish  Catholic  would  have  as  much  chance  of  becoming 
Grand  Lama  of  Thibet  as  of  obtaining  any  post  within  the  gift  of 
the  Protestant  population  of  Belfast  and  the  surrounding  country. 
It  is  wrong,  however,  for  Irish  priests  to  prefer  Catholic  doctors 
for  attendance  on  Catholic  patients  in  Connaught  and  Munster. 
Prima  facie ^  Protestants  are  entitled  to  all  posts  and  Papist  tres- 
passers must  justify  their  presence  in  the  sacred  preserve. 

"Mr.  Mahaffy  points  to  the  churches  and  cathedrals  which 
Papists  have  the  effrontery  to  build  with  their  own  money  for  the 
worship  of  God  in  their  own  way.  Protestants  are  in  no  need  of 
building.  They  hold  the  old  Catholic  cathedrals  in  Dublin, 
Armagh,  Tuam,  and  other  places,  and  no  doubt  Mr.  Mahaffy 
thinks  that  the  old  Mass-houses  of  the  eighteenth  century  ought 
to  serve  very  well. 

"But  indeed  Mr.  Mahaffy  serves  a  very  useful  purpose  in 
showing  how  the  minds  of  young  Irish  Catholics  would  be  *  set ' 
were  Irish  parents  to  send  their  sons  to  an  institution  (Trinity 
College)  where  there  is  not  a  single  Catholic  teacher  and  where 
the  '  liberality  of  mind  '  is  shown  in  the  wailings  over  lost  Prot- 
estant privileges  and  the  determination  to  keep  Papists  in  their 
place.  Sir  Samuel  Ferguson  has  summed  it  all  up  in  his  ballad 
of  the  '  Loyal  Orangeman.'  This  worthy,  like  Mr.  Mahaffy,  was 
a  most  reasonable  man.     All  that  he  asked  for  was: 

'The  crown  of  the  causeway  in  road  and  street, 
And  the  rebelly  Papishes  under  my  feet.' 

"Let  us  remember,  that  so  far  as  popular  feeling  in  Ireland 
goes,  no  distinction  is  made  between  Catholic  and  Protestant 
squireens.  There  are  few  Catholic  squires,  no  doubt,  as  all  the 
land  was  granted  to  Protestants  after  the  confiscations,  and  for 
a  century  no  Catholic  could  hold  land  in  fee  simple  even  had  they 
the  means  and  chance  of  acquiring  it. 

"  But  those  who  have  acquired  land  are  treated  without  refer- 
ence to  their  creed.     I  think,  indeed,  that  these  scattered  Catho- 


The  Suavity  of  Orange  Protestantism     331 

lie  squireens  are  more  hated,  as  they  are  surely  more  despised, 
than  their  Protestant  confr'tres.  On  this  point  it  is  interesting 
to  observe  that  in  all  the  so-called  treasonable  poetry  and  songs 
of  Ireland  there  is  a  total  absence  of  the  sectarian  note.  While 
enlightened  Ulster  at  the  July  celebration  sings  the  edifying 
Boyne  Water  and  Wc  'II  Kick  the  Pope  before  us^  not  one  ballad 
offensive  to  Protestants  can  be  heard  in  the  Catholic  parts  of  Ire- 
land. Again,  no  sectarian  symbol  or  emblem  is  worn  by  Catholics, 
while  the  Orange  lily  is  flaunted  in  Sheriffs'  ofiices  in  Connaught 
on  the  12th  of  July  as  a  gentle  reminder  to  all  that  'croppies' 
had  better  '  lie  down !  '  Ulster  is  clothed  in  lilies  on  that  day — 
emblems  of  her  sweet  attractiveness. 

"  If  the  power  and  influence  of  '  Romish  Prelates  '  be  the  evil 
which  Mr.  Mahaffy  seems  to  fear,  the  best  way  to  perpetuate  the 
sway  of  the  Churchman  is  by  continuing  the  exclusion  of  the  Irish 
Catholic  from  all  share  in  the  public  administration  of  their  own 
country. 

"Ireland  will  continue  to  be  'Romanized'  so  long  as  Rome 
supplies  the  only  avenue  through  which  an  Irish  peasant  may, 
without  soiling  his  soul,  or  stooping  to  sycophancy,  enter  a  ple- 
beian and  emerge  a  prince.  Rome  does  this  for  the  Irish  peasant. 
Little  wonder  that  the  free  and  loving  homage  of  the  Irish  prole- 
tariate is  given  to  the  august  See  which  lifts  the  lowest  peasant's 
son  to  be  the  equal  of  a  Howard  or  a  Schwartzenberg. 

"If  an  Irish  Catholic  layman  is  to  hold  his  soul  free  he  must 
turn  his  back  on  state  office  at  home,  as  Sir  Anthony  McDonell, 
Sir  Charles  Gavan  Duffy,  Sir  John  Uppington,  and  D'Arcy 
Magee  have  served  India,  Australia,  Canada,  and  the  Cape." 

The  Dublin  Freetnan  s  Journal  thus  comments  on  the 
subject : 

"One  is  sometimes  driven  to  the  conclusion  that  a  little  less 
forbearance  on  the  part  of  the  majority  would  more  speedily 
realize  the  condition  of  simple  equality,  which  is  what  Catholics 
desire.  Nor  is  it  merely  within  the  domain  of  the  castle  that  the 
spirit  of  exclusiveness  and  intolerance  works.  Some  of  the  banks 
and  railways  that  are  absolutely  dependent  upon  Catholic  support 
and  patronage  are  just  as  intolerant.     It  would  be  as  easy  for  a 


332  Ireland  under  English  Rule 

Catholic  to  become  Viceroy  as  to  secure  any  well-paid  post  in  the 
gift  of  some  of  the  railway  boards  that  depend  for  their  power  on 
Catholic  share-holders  and  Catholic  customers.  Even  in  trade, 
where  business  discretion  would  suggest  another  course,  the  same 
intolerant  incivism  exhibits  itself.  There  are  business  houses  in 
Dublin  which  refuse  to  employ  a  Catholic,  and  yet  thrive  on 
Catholic  custom.  So  that  amiable  as  Catholic  tolerance  may  be, 
we  doubt  whether  equal  government  or  true  citizenship  prospers 
by  an  inoffensive  attitude  towards  boycotters.  If  the  boycotters 
were  met  with  their  own  weapons,  prudence  might  quickly  gen- 
erate a  better  spirit  among  them." 

More  recent  information  on  this  subject  has  been  supplied 
by  the  Irish  Chief  Secretary  Wyndham.  While  it  does  not 
include  all  the  Irish  of^cials  nor  mention  the  positions  from 
which  Catholics  are  virtually  excluded,  the  information  is 
valuable,  in  addition  to  that  already  given,  as  to  the  pro- 
portion existing  in  the  positions  specified  about  June,  1902. 
These  statistics  were  transmitted  to  the  Dublin  Freeman' s 
Journal  by  its  London  correspondent  and  printed  as  follows : 

"  In  accordance  with  a  promise  recently  given  by  him  to  Mr. 
MacVeagh,  who  asked  a  series  of  questions  on  the  subject  (in 
Parhament),  Mr.  Wyndham  has  now  supplied  that  gentleman 
with  a  number  of  interesting  particulars  relating  to  the  religious 
persuasion  of  Irish  magistrates  and  police  officers.  It  appears 
that  of  the  68  resident  magistrates  in  Ireland  49  are  Protestants 
and  19  Catholics,  while  of  the  37  county  inspectors,  n  are  Prot- 
estants and  4  Catholics,  and  of  the  214  district  inspectors,  154 
are  Protestants  and  60  Catholics.  These  figures  give  a  total  of 
83  Catholics  to  236  Protestants!  " 

To  account  for  this  disproportion  it  cannot  be  claimed 
that  the  Catholic  members  of  the  legal  profession  in  Ireland 
have  been  at  any  time  less  learned  than  those  who  differed 
from  them  in  their  religious  belief.  On  the  contrary,  it  is 
a  singular  circumstance  in  this  connection  that  the  greater 
portion  of  the  members  of  the  Irish  bar  who  have  been  most 


Catholic  Members  of  the  Irish  Bar      333 

widely  known  abroad  for  their  eloquence  and  legal  attain- 
ments have  been  Catholics.  It  is  not  improbable  that  the 
existing  difficulties  which  a  Catholic  has  to  overcome  in 
Ireland  develop  under  the  circumstances  the  essentials  for 
marked  success. 


END   OF  VOL.  I. 


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